There and Back Again
by padfootsmine
Summary: Time is hard to understand. Hermione learns that she has a past at Hogwarts that began long before her first year. A Time-Turner fic. Set during 6th year with elements from canon. HG/SB. Please read, review, and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

_You're searching, Joe, for things that don't exist; I mean beginnings. Ends and beginnings -- there are no such things. There are only middles. ~ Robert Frost_

**3****rd**** Year (1993)**

_Remus Lupin quickly walked out of the train compartment he had been sleeping in on the way t_o_ Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Thoroughly shaken and breathing hard, he leaned against the wall out of sight from the young students he was just with. It was not the dementor he had just fought off, the fact he was currently recovering from the effects of the full moon, or that he had seen Harry Potter for the first time in twelve years that was making him feel this way. His odd demeanor was all to do with the young witch he had just encountered. A girl he knew he would but never fully believed he would see again._

_A part of Remus did not believe it was really her, but there was no denying the large quantity of bushy brown hair, the all knowing eyes he knew only too well, and the obvious intelligence that was evident each time she spoke. He could not have been in her presence for more than ten minutes but her identity was undeniable._

_Regaining control of his composure, Remus went back to the compartment to check on Harry before quickly setting off again. He sat down at the back of the train letting a number of old memories rush back to him. Many of them he did not want to think about because they concerned people, friends, whose lives had ended much too soon, for a reason he could never completely come to terms with. He remained lost in his thoughts until the train lurched to a stop at Hogwarts. He waited until he knew his compartment was empty before retrieving his things._

_Remus got into one of the last remaining carriages leading to the school with an overwhelming urge to speak with Dumbledore as soon as possible. The ride seemed to last an eternity before he and all the other students reached the Great Hall. He took his seat at the long table reserved for teachers at the front of the hall. He sat impatiently waiting for the headmaster to turn up so he could request a private word. Dumbledore didn't turn up until the start of the feast at which time he said his announcements and introduced the new staff, himself included. His insides ran cold at the mention of Sirius Black as they had been doing so every time his name was brought up over the past few weeks. He could not rid himself of the knot in his chest until well into the feast. At this point he began trying to catch Dumbledore's eye but it became clear after several minutes that the eccentric old man was intent on ignoring him. _

_As the feast ended and the students retreated out of the hall and to their dormitories, Remus chanced one last glance toward the Gryffindor table and then immediately headed for the headmaster who now seemed to be waiting for Remus to join him._

_"Professor? May I speak with you in private?" Remus whispered cautiously. _

_"Certainly", spoke Dumbledore brightly. "I apologize for ignoring you just now. I believe it best if we draw as little attention to ourselves as possible. Let's head to my office, shall we?"_

_Dumbledore and Remus began to go without another word but not before Snape shot him a look from across the hall that clearly showed he had heard the headmaster's comment and was presently filled with curiosity and suspicion._

_Within less than five minutes they had reached the gargoyle. The moment both men were safely inside Dumbledore began to speak._

_"I believe you have recognized an old friend tonight Remus?" asked Dumbledore quite calmly. _

_He admired Dumbledore's composure._

_"I find all of this so hard to believe. She seems to be quite close to Harry. Of course, it makes sense. I don't see any other way she could have known so much about us. Some of my old memories of her are starting to make a bit more sense. There are still a number of blanks in my understanding though", spoke the former Marauder thoughtfully. "How long until it happens?" Remus added not being able to restrain his curiosity._

_Remus had a vague idea of when it would take place but he wasn't completely sure._

_"A little over three years, I think. I must tell you though Remus how imperative it is that you keep this to yourself and only those who already know. The knowledge of Hermione Granger traveling through time in three years could be dangerous information in the wrong hands. It could also be so in our own. We cannot interfere with what has already happened. I fear the outcome if some knowledge of this reaches her ears beforehand. Hermione has proved herself to be very bright, as I'm sure you remember. I would not put it past her to figure it out before it takes place."_

_Remus stared at Dumbledore. "Her name is Hermione Granger?" he breathed._

_"Yes. And my must ask you to be careful this year. She cannot know how well you already know her." _

_A few moments later Remus Lupin excused himself from the headmaster's office just as worried and shaken as he had been a little over an hour ago on the train. The reappearance of two people from his past did little to improve his nerves. _


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everybody! So here is Chapter 1. Please review and let me know what you guys think.

**Chapter One: Wishful Thinking**

**"Events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance to ourselves they find their own order the continuous thread of revelation." - Eudora Welty**

Her eyes glued to her Arithmancy textbook, Hermione was a tad preoccupied. It was their first day back at Hogwarts after their very first class and she was already studying. Not too surprising. At least it wasn't too surprising to the two other people she happened to be walking with to her next class.

Ron was staring. And Harry was trying really hard not to laugh at his expression.

"Ron, mate, you can't possibly think this is anything new", said Harry grinning.

"But she just keeps topping herself in studious behavior. Don't you ever wonder if her head will just explode?", asked Ron. He made a face, did a few hand gestures, and created some very loud sound effects to illustrate what he could see happening in the very near future if Hermione kept acting like Hermione.

This time Harry couldn't help but laugh and Ron followed suit. Becoming increasingly annoyed, Hermione finally had to look up from her book. She could never concentrate when surrounded by the two of them. _Thank God they're endearing_, thought Hermione with a smile starting to spread across her face.

"Please you two", she started. "I really do need to finish reading this. I have a timeturner again this year, but I'd rather not use it unless I have to. We're at NEWT level now. I have to use all my time to my advantage."

Harry and Ron stared blankly for a few moments at Hermione before Ron slowly made his way over to his friend whom he partially thought insane...in a good way.

Ron put his arm around her and looked her in the eye with the most serious expression he could muster. Hermione stared right back with her own look that clearly asked, _What now? _

"Hermione...", started Ron."Breathe. You know..." He began to breathe in and out in quick recession but it sounded a bit more like wheezing.

The three of them continued to laugh as they headed for the stairwell leading down to the dungeons for Potions. About ten feet from where they were standing, Malfoy saw an opportunity. They still had not spotted him and didn't have their wands out. He lifted his own with a smirk and pointed it in Harry's direction.

"Oi! Potter!"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned just as Malfoy fired off a hex at Harry. He didn't anticipate Harry moving quick enough to miss the shot or Hermione not paying enough attention to know exactly where the spell was headed. Needless to say, he missed. While trying to move out of the way, Hermione took too many steps back and began to tumble down the long flight of stairs located directly behind them. Harry and Ron watched with horror as she fell down the staircase. About half way down they both heard the sound of something like glass break. Immediately after the unexplained noise, Hermione simply vanished. Both Harry and Ron stood quite still, staring in shock at the spot where their friend had just been.

_That worked out all right. _Malfoy was not a witness to her disappearance. After seeing the fall from a distance, he decided to move on. He may have missed, but he was satisfied with making their day just a little more unpleasant. They were all such a pain in the ass. His father wouldn't be in jail if it weren't for the lot of them. He continued on his way to the Room of Requirement. He had some free time now so he figured he'd get started.

* * *

"I don't know how you do it", exclaimed Remus in complete amazement. "I think this may be a new record. It hasn't even been twenty-four hours and Amy already detests you. You have a gift."

Sirius smiled. He wasn't too upset over his latest botched relationship, if a person could even call it that_. _It could better be described as two hours spent snogging in the broom closet on the second floor. It was a bit unfortunate that she caught him repeating this action with Morgan a half-hour ago.

"You need to learn how to pace yourself, Padfoot. It's only sixth year! You're gonna make it through the entire school's female population before Christmas", added James with such a smug tone that Sirius had to scoff.

"You're one to talk! What about you and Lily? A word of advice. You may want to start addressing her as such, because I have a feeling 'Evans' is a little less endearing than you think it is, mate."

James stopped dead in his tracks. That was low. He knew full well that he was getting to her. Just yesterday James saw her with a hint of a smile when he turned Frank's pumpkin juice into balsamic vinegar. Sure, Frank ended spitting it directly into James' face once he took the first gulp, but he was pretty positive that wasn't what she was grinning at.

Sirius thumped James on the back and the three of them continued to walk as they headed for the stairs.

"Wouldn't it be nice if the love of your life just fell out of the sky?", sighed Sirius with such a dreamy expression on his face that Remus knew he was joking.

"Ha! I highly doubt-", started Remus. He was cut off mid sentence when, out of nowhere, a bushy haired girl appeared tumbling down the stairs. They all watched in slow motion as she gained what appeared to be more speed. She was yelling her brains out but all they could do was watch as she fell directly on top of Sirius knocking them both to the ground.

Remus and James stared blankly down at the two of them for what seemed like a whole minute before Remus looked up and stared at the ceiling.

"Wouldn't it be nice if a million galleons just fell out of the sky?", Remus asked hopefully. Nothing happened. "Oh well." He gave up and finally turned his attention back to the two people trying to disentangle themselves as they got up off the floor.

While Remus tried to get rich, Hermione was seething. _That bastard. Did he not see that I was standing right at the top of the staircase? Not that he would care. I probably broke this poor guy's back._

Sirius was a little amused. He recovered from the fall fairly quickly but didn't rush himself to get back on his feet. He found the girl's repeated apologies for having knocked him down rather funny, and if he kept lying where he was he had a pretty good view as she tried to disentangle herself and get off the ground.

James caught on rather quickly to Sirius' act and decided to cut his fun short.

"Um…hi. Do you need some help?" asked James.

"Yes, thank you. I am so sorry." Hermione took James' hand as she lifted herself off the floor, still looking down as she brushed herself off and made sure her clothes were in order. She finally glanced up briefly and realized it was Harry.

"Thanks, Harry. You didn't fall too did you? I swear I'm going to sock Malfoy the next time I see him."

"Who's Harry?"

"What do you mea-?" Hermione stopped mid-sentence as she finally took a good look at her surroundings. She was surrounded by three very curious and albeit slightly confused looking boys. She looked more closely at the features of the boy who had helped her and knew immediately that it wasn't Harry, just someone who looked incredibly like him. She continued to gaze closely at him as she squinted her eyes and took in his every feature.

James began to get uncomfortable under her unending stare and could not help but take a step back. He made a slight grunting noise directed towards his friends to get them to step in. Sirius quickly obliged and tried to disrupt her line of vision. "Good morning, love. Hate to interrupt but I was wondering if you could tell us your name. You see, I thought I knew all the griffyndors and I don't believe we've met. I'm Sirius. Sirius Black." He then proceeded to put out his hand.

Hermione's head snapped towards Sirius the moment he introduced himself, her face now frozen in shock. This wasn't possible. No. She had heard him wrong. He said something else. Hermione quickly revolved on the spot taking in the sight of James, Sirius, and someone whom she strongly believed was her former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor as slowly began to lose her sense of awareness. As Hermione's vision went fuzzy, the three marauders became even more alarmed then they had previously been. Sirius, being much more alert this time around, caught Hermione as she headed to the floor in a dead faint. 


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you all so much for the reviews! And a special thank you to ocard99 for being such a wonderful beta!!!! And thanks Euphoria123, your review made me smile. I'm quite fond of that line myself. So here is chapter 2. I hope you guys enjoy it. Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: As much as I wish, pray, hope, dream that these characters and world belong to me, I can't claim them as my own. J.K. Rowling is the master. I merely borrow.

**Chapter 2: Rude Awakenings**

_**No time like the present. ~ Mrs. Manley**_

**(1996)**

Harry and Ron stared dumbstruck at the spot on the stairs where Hermione had just vanished.

"Hermione? …Hello?", Ron called in a voice much too high to be considered male.

Harry began to slowly make his way down the stairs. Did he really just see what he thought he saw? As he made his way down he began to notice something that seemed to shimmer on the steps a few feet below. Harry bent down to examine what it could be and looked back up at Ron with a look of fear upon his face. While the gold dust slid though his fingers, its origin hit him like lightening. It was from Hermione's timeturner. He continued to look around closely and noticed small shards of glass littering the steps as well. The timeturner must have broken.

As this revelation truly dawned on him, Harry sprang to life. She had to have gone somewhere. He grabbed Ron by the arm and took off running towards the direction of the gargoyle. He explained to Ron his theory as they sprinted of how their best friend's disappearance must have had something to do with the broken instrument Hermione had around her neck. Harry and Ron did not however pay particular attention to their surroundings and as they sharply turned a corner, they collided with the one person they could have done without. Standing there in his black billowing robes, was none other than Professor Snape, glaring at Harry and Ron with a look of utter contempt.

"Anybody ever tell you to watch where you're going, Potter? Or do you enjoy walking around with your eyes shut?"

"Please, Sir…Hermione, she just--", Harry started before Snape cut him off.

"What you two and Miss Granger get up to is of no concern of mine." The Potions professor could not have cared less about whatever trouble seemed to have befallen on the golden trio. Actually, it was rather a nice pick-me-up after the week he was having.

"HERMIONE JUST DISAPPEARED!", shouted Ron in frustration. They couldn't afford to keep wasting time.

Snape just stared.

Harry decided to explain a bit better. "Malfoy shot off a curse in our direction and she fell down the stairs. It looks like her timeturner broke, Professor."

As Harry and Ron watched on in confusion, Snape remained quite still. He stared on past their heads into nothingness as endless memories came flooding back, blocking all other senses. The two standing before watched as he blinked and his jaw began to drop somewhat.

"Er, Professor?"

"Sir?"

"HELLO!"

Snape eyes shot back at them and his stare, even more menacing then before, rather alarmed them. Ron even began to take a step back when Snape curtly replied, "The password to the Headmaster's study is Fever Fudge."

Harry and Ron were left in utter confusion as Snape strode past. Harry swore he heard him mutter, "I knew it was her", once he was a short distance away but he had absolutely no idea what that could mean.

He decided to ignore the comment for now along with Snape's odd behavior.

They were close to Dumbledore's office and ran the rest of the way to the gargoyle. Ron breathed, "Fever Fudge", and they both skipped steps all the way up to the top until they reached the door. To Harry's surprise it was already open. As they hesitantly looked in, Albus Dumbledore was casually leaning against his desk. His smile was soft and his eyes still had their sparkle, but there was something in his stare as he looked towards Harry that indicated sadness.

"Professor?"

"Harry, Ron. Come! Take a seat." Dumbledore began, motioning to the two empty shares in front of him.

Both Harry and Ron sat slowly down in front of the headmaster wondering what would come next. After their experience with Snape, neither knew what to expect.

"I know what happened to Miss Granger."

They did not expect that.

Ron began to make an odd gurgling sound as Harry tried to wrap his head around that statement.

"But---"

Dumbledore raised his withered hand and started, "Just a moment, boys. All will be much clearer once I have explained. I am well aware of what you have just witnessed and I am pleased to inform you that I have an explanation. However, I do remain ignorant as to how you will react. Hermione, you'll be glad to hear, is perfectly alright."

Harry and Ron looked visibly relieved at this statement, which included emitting a shaky laugh.

"When Miss Granger fell down those steps just a few moments ago, she broke her timeturner. Through random chance, that timeturner transported her to 1976. Yes…Hermione has travelled 20 years into the past."

Shock graced the faces of both Harry and Ron.

A separate thought occurred to Harry simultaneously.

"Professor Dumbledore? If Hermione is at Hogwarts in 1976, doesn't that mean my par--". Harry did not know how to continue. The thought was too outrageous to comprehend.

Dumbledore waited a few moments before responding. "Yes, Harry, Hermione is in the process of meeting your parents." And then he decided to add, "along with quite a few others."

Ron, who had been sitting in silence since Dumbledore's revelation, finally spoke.

"But what about Hermione? How is she going to get back?"

"She will be returning to the present by another timeturner, albeit one much more advanced than the one she just broke. However, I am very sorry to say, it will take quite a bit of time to build. You see, timeturners were much harder to come by 20 years ago then they are now."

Ron dreaded the answer even as he asked the question. "How long to build?"

"Eight months."

Harry felt like he had been sucker punched in the chest. _Eight months_. How in Merlin's pants were they going to make it through eight months without Hermione? He began to look around the room for lack of anything better to do. His ability to speak hadn't yet returned to him. He quickly glanced at the unmoving mass that was now Ron before taking in anything else. There were a number of magical instruments scattered throughout the room and Faux stared curiously back at him from behind Dumbledore's shoulder. He finally looked back at Dumbledore who had remained silent and patient since his last answer as the two boys digested this new information. Harry gave Dumbledore a look to urge him to continue.

"I can assure you both that Miss Granger is quite alright. From what I can recall, she was well looked after and seemed to enjoy her time spent there. I know she did miss you both very dearly, however," he finished kindly.

His memory of his encounter with Snape just took on new meaning, coming back to him in full force. "Professor, we ran into Snape on our way here. He acted rather odd when we mentioned what happened. He met Hermione, didn't he? When he was at Hogwarts."

Ron's head snapped up and he was immediately at full attention.

"Ah, well…yes he did," Dumbledore started slowly. "You see, I'm afraid he was left unsure of Hermione's true identity until…apparently…just now." Their headmaster appeared to look rather sheepish. He did feel a little ashamed at never having told Severus the whole story. However, it was necessary. The less who knew the better. Severus may have let something slip. It was better to leave him guessing.

"So does that mean everyone else knew?" Ron asked.

"Everyone who figured out the truth."

"And who was that?" Sirius shot to the forefront of Harry's mind. Looking back, there were moments when he questioned the meaning behind certain comments and stares. As he thought of him, he felt a pang of regret and sadness in his chest.

"Sirius. Remus. Professor McGonagall. Those who have spent enough time with her to work out the truth."

"How did they keep this entirely secret all this time?"

"It would not have been wise to inform Hermione or anyone else about these events. This information in the wrong hands would have had unspeakable consequences. But now, what's done is done. What is happening to Hermione has already happened. All we can do now is wait."

Harry and Ron sat in silence, both absorbed in their own thoughts. Harry's mind was in a whirlwind. If he didn't know any better, he was starting to feel almost jealous. He knew he shouldn't, yet he couldn't brush aside the feeling that he now felt more alone than ever.

**(1976)**

_Merlin's beard…my head. Good gods. _Hermione was having a difficult time deciding whether or not she should open her eyes. It felt like she had fallen off the astronomy tower and landed on a very angry Fluffy. Every bit of her ached and she didn't want to move for a very long time.

Hermione stiffened. She heard something like plastic wrapper crinkle only a few feet from where she was lying. Groaning, she slowly and hesitantly opened her eyes just a crack. To her right, Professor Dumbledore was rummaging through a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"Good evening."

"Ugh." Hermione couldn't bring herself to say anything more.

"Oh don't worry. No need to get up just yet. You have plenty of time."

_Time…Oh my god._ Hermione immediately shot up. Bad idea. Her whole body screamed in protest and she brought her hand up to her head to steady herself. After her surroundings stopped spinning, she finally began to take them in. She was in the hospital wing in bed. Dumbledore was sitting in a chair next to her bed but they appeared to be the only two in the room.

"What happened?"

"I'm afraid that is something you will have to tell me."

"I fell", said Hermione weakly. "I…don't know. I don't really want to know." Hermione's hand moved to her neckline, feeling along the gold chain that felt oddly light now. Her fingers finally reached the hourglass which no longer resembled an hourglass. Just a few broken glass fragments barely remained. She closed her eyes…._Shit._

"Professor Dumbledore? What year is it?"

Instead of being confused by this question, he seemed to rather expect it. He had seen what was left of her timeturner. He had not seen something like this happen before, but he had always known it was possible.

"1976".

Hermione's sharp intake of breath was followed by silence. She knew it was coming. She still remembered what happened after her fall, but she had not allowed herself to believe that such a thing was possible. But she couldn't deny it anymore. The sandy brown hair before the grey. Those features just like Harry's. And that grin…that she had never seen so bright upon that face.

"Professor, I'm not supposed to be here. I can't be here. I'm…I'm from the future. I had a timeturner, sir. It broke."

"Yes, I had reached that conclusion myself, from the broken necklace and the account given by those charming boys who alerted us to your fall."

"What do I do?"

"You must wait", said Dumbledore simply. "We will need to build you a new timeturner, albeit, one much more advanced. But first I must ask you. From which date have you come from?"

"1996"

"And your name?"

"Hermione Granger, sir."

"And am I right to assume that you have connections to some of those of this time?"

She felt a pang of sadness. "…Yes."

"Then I must ask a great deal from you. It is important that your identity be kept a secret. Your true background and the knowledge that you hold would be indescribably dangerous in the wrong hands. You will have to change your name, although I think you can keep Hermione, and we will need to create a new background for you. " Dumbledore mused. "How about 'Bennett'?"

Hermione sighed. "That sounds fine."

"And how about your history. Would you object to having just transferred from Beauxbatons? Let's say your parent's jobs were located in France but your family has just moved back to Britain." She nodded. It really didn't matter to her. She would have to lie no matter what. The lie itself was of no consequence.

Dumbledore remained silent for a moment. This would be difficult, he knew. He could see in her eyes that she knew much…too much. He would do all in his power to keep her safe, though he feared the danger could creep in from all sides. Time would tell.

"Hermione", said Dumbledore, addressing her by her first name for the first time. "I promise. We will get you back home. And I know you realize the significance of what has happened. No one can know anything of the knowledge you hold. In spite of ourselves, we all try to change what we know we can't. And we cannot change history."

"I don't think I can be here, Professor", said Hermione hopelessly. "I can't do this." She thought of Harry's parents. She thought of Sirius and Lupin and all the sorrow that was in store for them in just a few years time. It wasn't fair.

"But you are here. And we will just have to meet it head on."

"How long will I be here Professor?"

"I would say about eight months." She cringed.

As Hermione sat on the bed absorbing this last bit of information, a much more youthful Professor McGonagall burst into the hospital wing. This new yet familiar face was yet another shock and she tried to keep it from showing on her face.

"What's happened, Albus?" asked her Transfiguration teacher hurriedly.

"Professor McGonagall!", shouted Dumbledore, suddenly very chipper. "We have a new Gryffindor student." _How did he know that I am in Gryffindor?_ Hermione then proceeded to look down at her uniform. _Oh…Mental head slap._

"A new Gryffindor? Is this she?"

"Yes indeed! May I introduce you to Hermione Bennett. She is a new sixth year and has just transferred from Beauxbatons. Unfortunately, on her journey here, all her belongings were misplaced. If you could give Ms. Bennett emergency funds from the school treasury I am sure she would greatly appreciate it. But for now I am sure our new student is quite famished and it would be wonderful if you could escort her to the Great Hall."

"A pleasure to meet you Ms. Bennett." Professor McGonagall leaned over to shake Hermione's hand. She tried not to let it show but she became positive that her professor noticed a look that she did not want her to. And as much as she detested the idea, she decided it was time to get up.

Hermione slowly stood and McGonagall waited patiently for her to gain a sense of balance.

"Oh yes, Ms. Bennett took quite a nasty fall down the stairs. She will be alright but you may want to slow your pace." Hermione shot a thankful look towards her headmaster.

"That's quite alright. Ms. Bennett, follow me."

Hermione followed McGonagall, as instructed, out of the hospital wing. They walked at a leisurely pace and McGonagall began to glance in the direction of her new student. She was curious and not altogether satisfied with Albus' explanation. However, it could wait. Now was not the time to discuss it and she would trust his judgment for the time being.

Hermione was keeping her eyes averted. She was too afraid she would give something away if she said anything at all. She had always been very close with her Transfiguration professor and hated not being able to confide in her liked she used to. Just another sign that this place, complete with these hallways that she had walked a hundred times, was quite different than the Hogwarts she had come to know. It was the same Hogwarts that she felt knew her just as well as she knew it.

"Ms. Bennett?"

This question was followed by silence.

"Ms. Bennett?", asked McGonagall a little louder. "Hermione?"

"Hmm?...Oh, yes?", responded Hermione rather sheepishly. She would really have to start paying attention. _Bennett. Remember Hermione. Bennett._

"Have you met any of your fellow Gryffindors yet?"

"A few. Briefly." This was not the conversation she wanted to get into right now.

"May I ask who?"

"Um…I can't remember their names", Hermione responded. She couldn't remember if they had all introduced themselves. It would be best if she were safe about this. She did not want to get caught knowing anything she shouldn't.

"We'll I'm sure you'll meet plenty of students who will make you feel right at home."

"Thank you."

Hermione nodded. They were approaching the entrance to the Great Hall now. As much as she hated to admit it, she was beginning to get truly nervous. It was ridiculous. She had set teachers on fire, fought off Devil's Snare, confronted werewolves, and dueled with Death Eaters. She shouldn't be this afraid. She began to think her fear stemmed from the fact that she couldn't predict what would happen next.

It was ironic considering the circumstances.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everybody! A very special thanks to ChamberlinofMusic, LoveIt123, padfootsgrl79, Skiffle-Rose, irishblue69, curlyjor, MollieJames, ocard99, TexasWildFlower, and Euphoria123 for reviewing. I really appreciate it. Please keep doing so! I love to hear what you guys think. I'll do my best to update again within a week. And here is Chapter 3….

**Chapter 3 Introductions**

**We know what we are, but know not what we may be. ~ William Shakespeare**

"So what happened?"

"Peter, we've told you a thousand times. She just appeared out of nowhere, tumbled down the stairs, and made Sirius a very happy boy."

Sirius smiled in spite of himself. "Moony, I WILL hide your chocolate again. Don't think I won't."

Remus stopped smiling.

"You wouldn't."

"I would."

"That's low, Padfoot. Even for you."

"What can I say? I have very low morals…and I really have been eyeing your Chocolate Frogs." James and Peter laughed, quickly followed by Remus who couldn't keep a straight face.

"So who do you think she is?" asked James.

"No idea, but I'd certainly like to find out." Sirius had been thinking about her all day. He had no idea who she was, and that was saying something, especially since she was wearing Gryffindor robes. Plus, her behavior was incredibly odd. Putting her unexpected entrance aside, why did she react the way she did when he and his friends had introduced themselves? Maybe he was over thinking the episode. She had just fallen down an entire flight of Hogwarts stairs. That could easily explain why she had fainted.

"Maybe she's a new student?" Remus mused. "Yeah, that's probably the case. We would recognize her otherwise."

At this moment, the girl whom they had been discussing slowly made her way through the doors at the entrance to the Great Hall. Sirius' eyes were immediately drawn to her figure. She was walking slowly, like she was trying to delay the process. She was keeping her head down as well. If he didn't know any better, he would have bet that she would walk into something…which she then did. Sirius and the other Marauders resounded in a collective, "ouch", as they watched her walk directly into Frank Longbottom.

***********

_Unbelievable. I can't even get to the table without making a fool of myself. What happened to, 'Get to the table without drawing attention?' Might as well throw that out the window along with, 'Let's all just have a normal year for once.'_

After quickly apologizing to the poor boy with chocolate pudding now covering his shirt, Hermione made her way to a free spot at the Gryffindor table. She had seated herself with some girls who looked to be around her age and immediately began to load a heap of food onto her plate. The other girls looked at each other before looking again curiously in Hermione's direction. One of the girls with long and wavy brown hair and a round kind face turned towards another of the girls with an expression that clearly said, _Well, aren't you going to say something?_

"Hi there", spoke the girl sitting directly next to Hermione. "I'm Lily Evans. What's your name? I don't think we've met."

Hermione froze. With a mouthful of food, she turned toward Lily with an intense feeling of anxiety. Lily had fiery red hair that fell half way down her back, bright green eyes, and a genuine smile. At first glance, she reminded Hermione of Ginny. There was that same level of intensity in Lily's gaze that made her feel like she could see right through her. Ginny always had that uncanny ability in being able to tell whenever Hermione was lying. Maybe that was why she was so nervous to speak.

"Is something wrong?" asked Lily with concern.

Hermione then attempted to say "no" but it came out garbled. She swallowed and then tried again. "No, no. Nothing's wrong. I just got distracted. Hi, I'm Hermione Bennett."

"Nice to meet you, Hermione", said Lily offering her hand. "Are you new to Hogwarts?"

"Yes actually. I just transferred from Beauxbatons."

"Really? What was that like? You're not originally from France are you?" The girl sitting opposite Lily and Hermione jumped in to the conversation. "I'm Margo Knight by the way. Pleased to meet you", said she with a friendly smile.

"No, I'm not from France. My family just moved back to Britain. My parent's jobs kept us in France."

"Wow, so do you speak French?"

"How long did you live there?"

"What did your parents do?"

This was not good. They were asking too many questions. Hermione started to become nervous that she might let something slip. _Damn. Focus, Hermione._

"Uh…I speak enough to get by. I'm not fluent though. And we moved there when I was ten. My parents are muggles. They're dentists."

"They had to move to France for that? Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude", asked Margo.

_Shit. Now what do I say? They were travelling dentists?_

"Well, uh, they wanted a change of scenery so they restarted their business in France…since we have extended family…who live there. They thought it might be easier having relatives close by", mumbled Hermione.

Lily and Margo exchanged looks but didn't question it.

Hermione exhaled. This was difficult.

"So what year are you?" asked Lily.

"Sixth."

"Really? So are we. That will make us roommates then!"

"Don't worry. We'll show a good time", added Margo. Hermione did not doubt it. Thus far, Margo was giving the impression that she was one of those people who snuck butter beer out of Hogsmeade.

The three of them continued to talk and get to know each other. They both struck her as being incredibly smart. She was beginning to feel relatively comfortable after awhile but as dinner became dessert, she started to become increasingly aware that she was being watched. She started to look around without being horribly obvious and her eyes eventually connected with those of Sirius Black.

She immediately looked down and couldn't keep herself from turning a bright shade of red. After a few moments had past she felt compelled to look again and she saw that he was indeed still fixated on her. Hermione swallowed. She didn't want to be flustered.

He was so much younger. It took her by surprise to see him like this. She noticed how there were no lines in his face. His hair was black and flowed with ease. She hated to admit it, but he was rather handsome. It occurred to her that this was a much different Sirius than she had come to know since that first meeting in the Shrieking Shack. With this thought, she felt a pang of sadness. It had only been two and a half months since the night in the Ministry and things had changed. The two of them had never been close, but everything still seemed a little grimmer in his absence. It was so strange to see him here in this way, not just younger but alive.

"Hermione?"

"Is anyone in there?"

They finally caught Hermione's attention. She had been lost in thought for almost a minute and had lost track of the conversation. "Hmm?"

"So do you want to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow then?" asked Lily for the second time.

"Yes, that sounds great." Hermione smiled in reassurance.

The three of them soon finished eating and decided to make their way upstairs.

As they stood, Sirius did as well who was quickly followed by James, Remus, and Peter. He wasted no time in catching up to them as they made their way out of the Great Hall.

"Hello, love, I don't think we were ever properly introduced", said Sirius as he rushed out to stand directly in Hermione's line of vision.  
"Don't start, Sirius. She hasn't even been here for twenty-four hours", spoke Lily, her voice dripping with disdain.

Sirius took on a look of mock offense. "What are you suggesting Lily?"

"You know very well what she is suggesting" said Margo. "Leave the poor girl alone. She has a pulse. She wouldn't be your type."

Sirius stayed silent for a moment looking hurt. He then pulled himself together in an exaggerated sort of way. James snorted and Lily's attention then changed to James. "You're no better you know."

Now it was James' turn to look hurt. "What do you mean, 'You're no better'? I'm totally better! You have never seen ME in a broom closet!"

"Hey!" yelled Sirius in James' direction. However, James was paying no attention. He and Lily were now in a heated bickering match. Sirius took this opportunity to finally speak to Hermione.

"Sorry about that. I'll introduce myself one more time. I'm Sirius Black."

Hermione just stared for a moment. She had remained silent during the entire multiple person exchange. His abrasive manner was a little difficult to process. As she had known him in the past, he had always seemed to keep a distance. She had a hard time admitting it to herself, but this had bothered her. He never had any trouble talking with Ron and Hermione didn't see why he should treat her any different.

"Oh, um, hi. I'm Hermione…Bennett", she started. "Sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to knock you over."

"That's quite alright. It's nice to occasionally be knocked off your feet by a pretty girl." Sirius grinned.

_Wow_. Hermione blushed in spite of herself and stammered when she tried to speak. _Not good_. _Not good at all. _

"These are some of my friends by the way." Remus and Peter, who had been hanging back now came forward. "This is Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. And the hopeless one over there is James Potter."

Anger washed through her as she caught sight of Wormtail but she tried to keep it under control. She could not afford to lose it.

"Hello Hermione", greeted Remus.

"Hello. Nice to meet you." Hermione shook Remus' hand and gave him a genuine smile.

Peter then pushed himself past Remus to say hello. Hermione did not say anything but she produced a forced grin when she shook his hand.

"So what's your story Hermione?" asked Remus pleasantly.

Hermione told them what she had previously explained to Lily and Margo. Margo was still walking with Lily and James, trying to prevent an apocalypse. Her explanation was occasionally interrupted by the yelling but that did not seem to break their attention or interest in her. Apparently the bickering was nothing new.

"So what caused you to appear out of thin air and come tumbling down a flight of stairs?" asked Sirius.

"Spell gone wrong." This was the only question to which she had prepared an answer. Not a very detailed answer, but an answer none the less.

"Which spell?"

"Uh…Levicorpus", Hermione made up. "I didn't know what it did and I got stuck hanging in the air. I was able to reverse the spell but I was unfortunately at the top of that staircase."

"Well, you've had a very eventful day." Sirius smiled again. He found her incredibly entertaining. "Do you have any plans tomorrow?"

"Yes she does! We are going to Hogsmeade so don't go getting any ideas!" yelled Margo who had been listening to the entire exchange.

The group finally made their way up to Gryffindor Tower. Hermione was rather amused as they all insisted on showing her how to get through the portrait hole. Everything was exactly the same. The Fat Lady greeted them as they passed. The fireplace was lit in the corner. Gryffindor banners hung from the walls. _At least some things don't change_, thought Hermione.

The Marauders parted ways with Lily, Margo, and Hermione and everyone headed upstairs. When they reached their room she realized it was the same one that she already had. The only difference was the inhabitants. She was sharing a dorm room with Harry's mother. It was such a difficult concept to grasp. She wished he were there with her. It wasn't fair that he didn't get to have this chance, as odd of an opportunity as it was. Hermione sighed and crawled into bed. This had been one of the longest days of her life, and she still had another eight more months.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! Soo sorry it took so long to update. It has been a crazy last couple of weeks. Hopefully it won't be more than a week and a half before I get another chapter up. And a very big thank you to all of you who reviewed! Your reviews make me soo happy so please continue to do so. I like to know what you guys think. By the way, if you guys are looking for something entertaining I highly recommend A Very Potter Musical on Youtube. Its part of a playlist and its about a hour and a half. I haven't seen anything that funny in quite awhile. Check it out. And a special thank you to Euphoria123. Your review made me smile. Hopefully this is a bit longer. **** Now on with the show!**

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**Chapter 4: Ready…Steady…Go**

**Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you. They're supposed to help you discover who you are. ~ Bernice Johnson Reagan**

The Shrieking Shack (1993)

_**"Er - Mr. Black - Sirius?" said Hermione.**_

_**Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Hermione as though he had never seen anything quite like her.**_

_Except he had; he had seen someone exactly like her. He had known that face since he was sixteen years old, and he would never forget it. _

_No._

'_This is impossible', thought Sirius numbly. He had long since given up on ever seeing her again. She belonged to a future he believed had been lost. After James and Lily died, as he sat in that prison cell, he thought of how he must have made a mistake. Something had gone wrong. This was not the future that had been in store for them. He had let her down._

_Yet she was here, standing right in front of him. He had not properly looked at her before this moment and she was obviously younger, but it was definitely her. The same face, the same piercing eyes, and that bushy hair. He looked at Remus and Remus looked back. His eyes practically yelled, 'Don't say anything', and so he didn't. _

_He did his best to answer her question as thoughtfully as possible. She always was smart. She seemed satisfied with his answer and then his mind became less focused. His thoughts were everywhere at once. Harry looking so confused and wanting answers, Peter squirming around on the bed, and Hermione who obviously had no recollection of all the memories now racing through his mind. _

'_Focus, man. You have a job to do.'_

Hogwarts (1976)

Hermione was staring at the ceiling. She had her blanket twisted in her hands as she debated the pros and cons of getting out of bed. She didn't particularly want to face the day. And who could blame her? '_Absolutely no one_', she thought somewhat defensively. She was stuck twenty years in the past and in the company of her best friend's parents and godfather, an old professor, and a soon to be traitor. Not to mention the fact that there was no way to get back to her own time for another eight months.

She sighed heavily. Maybe she could just pretend she was ill.

Yes. Then she wouldn't have to get up at all. Hermione proceeded to close her eyes...

"MORNING!!!"

Hermione jumped so high her head nearly collided with the same person who had just ripped open her bed curtains.

"Ugh."

"Rise and shine my dear! It's a brand new day. The sun is up. The birds are chirping. And we're going to Hogsmeade!" Her voice seemed to rise an extra few octaves by the end of that sentence.

"Margo, I think I'm sick. I don't think I can go."

"WHAT?!" screamed Margo in reply. "That's utter nonsense. You are not sick. You just haven't thought of all the brilliant and incredibly useless stuff we are going to make you buy today."

Hermione frowned. She had never enjoyed shopping.

Margo smiled mischievously in return.

"COME ON HERMIONE! Get up! Get up! Get up! UP UP UP!!"

"OH MY GOD!" All the shouting had finally awakened Lily. "MARGO, IF YOU DON'T QUIET YOURSELF YOU ARE GOING TO FIND A LARGE COLLECTION OF HAGRID'S PETS IN YOUR BED TOMORROW MORNING!"

Margo just laughed at Lily's threat. Lily had never been a morning person, despite being incredibly studious. After sharing a room with Margo for five years, she still hadn't learned to accept that her roommate enjoyed rising early.

"You do realize that Hogsmeade will still be there all day long, don't you? That it won't disappear into the great abyss after 7 a.m.?" added Lily sarcastically.

"Now you couldn't possibly know that for sure. I say that we head for Hogsmeade right now, especially before James wakes up because I know he wants to join us."

Lily's eyes shot open and she jumped out of bed in a flurry. She did not want to get stuck with Potter following her around like a lapdog all day. She practically ran to the bathroom to shower and was ready to leave within ten minutes. To her dismay, Hermione was still in bed when she finished getting her things together.

"Come on Hermione! We have to go!" pleaded Lily as she attempted to drag her out of bed with no success.

"But I'm honestly not feeling well." She put on her best effort to look exhausted and sick but Margo nor Lily wasn't having any of it.

"Okay. Then what are you going to do about not having any personal possessions, hmm?"

She didn't have much of an answer to that. "We can share? Come on, it will be fun! Girl bonding." Her forced enthusiasm for her pathetic idea did very little to win over her roommates.

"As much as I like you Hermione, you are not using my toothbrush." Hermione grinned.

Margo walked over to Hermione and plopped herself on the bed. "Hermione?" she asked softly. "Please come with us?....Pretty please?"

This was unfair. Margo was pouting. They began a sort of staring contest in which they each tried to look as pathetic as possible in order to win the other's sympathy. Margo's lips were in a full downward turn and Hermione could tell her new friend was trying to make herself cry. Lily began to saunter closer to her bed with her eyebrows raised. They were ganging up on her.

She resolve started to weaken. What could she do if they both were determined to see her to Hogsmeade? Hermione sighed heavily and shot a death glare towards Margo. Both she and Lily smiled brightly because they knew they had gotten their way. Her last act of defiance was taking an abnormally long time rising from the bed.

"I'll be ready in twenty minutes."

* * *

James was snoring.

Loudly.

With each nasally inhale Sirius cringed, imagining new ways to throttle his best friend. He could just use a silencing charm but that no longer seemed nearly as appealing as just waking him up. And with that thought Sirius grabbed his pillow and hurled it directly at James' head.

James awoke with a start and emitted the most girlish and high-pitched scream Sirius had ever heard.

"FLYING BUNNIES!"

It took a moment for James to come to terms with his surroundings. That had been one hell of an odd dream.

"Dear Merlin! Who have I been rooming with all these years? Because the James Potter I know couldn't possibly make such a ghastly sound." Sirius didn't even attempt to keep a straight face.

Remus snorted. He had just woken up due to the racket. "You're both a couple of toddlers aren't you?"

"And you know you love us, Moony old buddy old pal!" cried James.

Remus smiled at his friends. They were beyond ridiculous, but at least they were never a bore. He shook his head and got out of bed. As he glanced out the window, he saw something that would make this morning a little more interesting.

"Oh comrades? You might want to take a look out my window. It seems a few of your favorite people have left for Hogsmeade without us."

The heads of both Sirius and James suddenly popped up from behind Sirius' bed. They had somehow ended up on the floor after James had decided to seek revenge for the thrown pillow. James shoved Sirius to the side in an attempt to reach the window first. He ran but tripped on the carpet in the process and emitted a very loud "oomph" as he went down. Sirius would have laughed but he was busy following his friend to the window. As James looked out upon the grounds, he saw three girls walking in the direction of Hogsmeade and one of them had fiery red hair.

James looked like he was in physical pain. Remus had to pity him. He had been obsessed with Lily since first year, by the end of the welcoming feast was more like it. Remus had watched James chase after Lily since they were kids. Despite how arrogant he acted around her, Remus knew his friend's feelings were sincere. He had a suspicion that she was beginning to feel the same way but she just didn't want to admit it. He had noticed the occasional smile in response to his compliments or his dense jokes. After keeping him at arm's length for so long, changing her stance would take even more time. And he had a feeling that James would keep waiting. He was stubborn that way.

James sighed heavily.

"Don't worry mate. We can catch up." reassured Sirius.

All of a sudden James ran to his trunk and began rummaging through his belongings, more specifically his clothes. He took one of his more formal button-up shirts and held it up in front of a mirror. Apparently deciding it wasn't good enough, he threw the shirt thoughtlessly on his bed and then ran back to his trunk to pick out something else. Sirius and Remus stared at James with their jaw's slightly dropped as he went through about ten different shirts, going so far as to try a few on and then quickly removing them.

"Dear Lord," exhaled Sirius. "You're a woman."

James' head snapped up from the inside of his trunk. "I resent that," said James in a mockingly serious tone.

"Don't worry about it, Prongs," responded Sirius. "However you should know that Lily's favorite color is red, not blue."

"Really?" James asked nervously.

"No, you buffoon. Let's get out of here before we waste the whole day!" Sirius strolled over to Peter's bed. He still hadn't woken up. Once Peter was up, it didn't take much longer to get them all out of the dorm room. As the four of them made their way across the grounds, Sirius debated what his next move should be with Hermione. She was certainly different from most of the girls he dated in the past. She was obviously intelligent, but that wasn't the only thing that set her apart. However, he had no idea what that might be. He hadn't figured it out yet but he was determined to find out.

When they reached Hogsmeade, Sirius and the others first made a stop at the post office. Owls surrounded the small building, resting leisurely on railings built just for them. He had a letter he needed to send and since he didn't have his own owl, he always borrowed one either from here or the school. James followed him when he went inside to pay. He picked out an owl and began to reread his letter one more time before sending it off. It was a letter to his Uncle Alfred. He was one of the few members of his family whom he still spoke to. At the beginning of the summer, less than three months ago, Sirius had been disowned by his family. Not that he cared much. He had never been able to put up with their bigotry and pure-blood mania. He had finally had enough. After he ran away in June, he heard that his mother had blasted away his name from the family tree on the Black tapestry. Since he really didn't know where else to go, he went to James' house in Godrick's Hollow. He spent the summer with James and his parents and it was the best summer he had ever had. They treated him like a second son and he and James were more like brothers than ever before. As he folded up the letter, James gave him a pat on the back.

"How's he doing?"

"Alright I guess. He's travelling."

"Yeah? Where to?" asked James with genuine curiosity.

"He's in Scotland right now. Shouldn't take too long for this to reach him."

"Brilliant." Both of them grinned. James understood how much Sirius just wanted someone he could call family and certain things like that didn't need to be said aloud.

"Come on, Prongs. Zonko's awaits."

* * *

"EVANS!"

Lily turned around. James was practically running in the direction of her and her friends, with Remus, Sirius, and Peter strolling along behind him. _Oh good gods_. She turned back around to look at the book she had been examining in an effort to ignore him. He could be so infuriating. Why did he have to turn up everywhere she went? He never got the message that she didn't want to be around him.

"Evans!" yelled James again hoarsely. He staggered to where she was standing outside the bookstore. He was breathing heavily and looked rather tired. "I've been looking all over for you," he breathed.

She stared. There were a few more moments of awkward silence before James tried again.

"So…" James started, straightening his stance after having been hunched over while catching his breath. "Are you buying a book?"

"Maybe."

"How are you doing today?"

"Fine."

By this time the rest of the Marauders had caught up with James and were standing a short distance behind him and Lily. It was always wise to keep a bit of space between themselves and the two of them. James had a way of provoking her and Lily was rather scary when she got angry. As James continued to berate Lily with questions and receive one word responses, the rest of them began to migrate toward each other. Margo took the lead, grabbed Hermione's arm, and pulled her over to where Sirius, Remus, and Peter were standing. The boys smiled at their approach Hermione started to become nervous again as she had been the night before.

"Why hello there," began Margo pleasantly.

"Hi," added Hermione somewhat shyly.

"Good morning, ladies," Sirius greeted in response.

"Hello," said Remus. As Hermione watched Remus' greeting, she noticed it was much more directed towards Margo than herself. His look at Margo seemed almost affectionate and Margo smiled knowingly in return. Hermione was missing something here. There was more to her and Remus' relationship than met the eye to be sure. She wondered to herself who would be the one to make the first move. _Probably Margo,_ she thought with a smile.

"Is anyone up for a few butterbeers?" asked Sirius. He leaned in towards Margo and whispered so as to not be overheard. "Please love? Look how pitiful he is. He just wants a chance. Can you convince Lily to join us?" He took her face in his hands and got her to take in sad sight in front of them.

"I wish I could Sirius, I really do. But I doubt she'll listen to me. She's incredibly willful. I don't think she's being honest with herself but as of right now, I don't think she's going to budge." Sirius sighed.

Margo looked towards Remus. "Maybe if it came from a different source she might make an exception," she added. "Remus? Want to give it a go?"

Lily had always had an issue with putting up with James and Sirius, but she never seemed to have a problem with Remus. He was certainly much more well-mannered than either of his friends, and was definitely less abrasive. He had a gentler way of speaking, Margo knew, that allowed Lily to lower her defenses. Hermione, Margo, Sirius, and Peter watched as Remus walked over to Lily and started to chat. She had seemed like she was nearly ready to blow a gasket any minute. His sudden approach caught her off guard, which left her rather flustered for a moment. They watched Lily as her resolve seemed to weaken and they waited in anticipation. A minute later Remus returned to the group followed by James and Lily. James was positively jovial as he approached. Lily looked she was already regretting something.

Remus grinned and whispered, "success", as he walked up to the group. Soon they were all on the way to The Three Broomsticks. Lily grabbed Hermione's arm and they began to walk together. She thought of how odd it felt to be with such a different group of people. She had spent the last five years with Harry and Ron and that was all she had ever been used to. Hermione hadn't spent much time with other girls since she was little. It was refreshing. It wasn't that her friendships with Harry and Ron were boring, far from it. It's just she had never spent much time with anyone else. She had never connected with her roommates, Lavender and Parvati. They were always friendly enough but they had never really connected. They seemed to always be more concerned with gossip and guys than anything else, and that wasn't Hermione.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sirius walk towards her and Lily, walking faster to catch up with them. Hermione smiled but Lily's eyes narrowed.

"Sirius," said Lily. He laughed. Sirius knew she acted like she disliked him more than she actually did.

"Lily," he responded with a grin. "So Hermione, have you been enjoying your first day here?"

She didn't have a great deal of experience with guys, but she knew what he was doing. She just didn't understand why. And that honestly scared the shit out of her. This was Sirius for Christ's sake. He shouldn't be looking at her like that.

"It's been fine." She wanted to be polite but she didn't want to make him think that the two of them were a possibility. Hermione brought her focus back to Lily and tried to keep it there but Sirius was relentless. He continued in his effort to make conversation all the way to The Three Broomsticks.

When Hermione walked inside the tavern, it was almost exactly like she had always known it. Everything was just a little newer, fresher in a way, she thought to herself. She glanced behind the bar and saw Madam Rosmerta. She appeared to be in her early 20s. After watching her a moment, it was obvious that she emitted the same amount of control over her bar as she did in later years.

"Rosmerta!" called James.

"That's Madam Rosmerta, James!" she corrected. "I saved your table in the back corner for all you buggers."

"Brilliant!"

James took the lead in steering everyone to the table. It was located in the back behind the staircase. She had sat at this exact table with Harry and Ron many times. They liked that table because it was secluded. It was easier to have a conversation since they didn't have to shout over the voices and noise created by everyone else. It was handy when speaking about things that were particularly sensitive, which was rather often now that she thought about it.

As she made her way to the table, she felt Sirius' hand on the small of her back in an effort to direct her. She instinctively moved away from his touch.

"Is something wrong?" asked Sirius.

"No, nothing's wrong."

"Something's wrong."

He sure was frustrating. She sighed. "Sirius, I don't want to be rude. Thanks but I can get there by myself."

Sirius smiled hesitantly. "I apologize. I'm sure you can."

"Okay, well…yeah." Hermione looked down at her shoes. She didn't know what to do or how to act around him. This was her best friend's godfather. _Not yet, Hermione._ All she knew was that he was developing the habit of making her increasingly uncomfortable.

All of them sat down and made themselves comfortable. James surprised Lily as he pulled out her chair. Hermione watched as Remus shot James a thumbs-up, letting him know he was on the right track. As Hermione observed them all, she noticed how easily they seemed to interact with one another. James and Sirius were attached to the hip. It reminded her of Harry and Ron.

She didn't feel like participating in the conversation. She felt out of place. These people were friends. They knew each other. They understood each other. She felt like she was intruding on something and that she didn't belong.

"Hey, Frank! Alice!" yelled Sirius. "Come join us. We got a few extra seats." He was speaking to two fellow Hogwarts students who had just walked into the bar. They smiled and waved at the group and made their way over to the table. When they sat down Hermione got her first real look at them. She recognized Frank immediately as the boy she had run into the night before. He was tall and had light brown hair. He was rather gangly which was a sharp contrast to his girlfriend Alice, who was shorter with rounder features. Alice looked horribly familiar. Hermione stared for a moment longer and it dawned on her.

_Frank and Alice._

_Frank and Alice Longbottom._

_Oh God_.

Hermione began to breathe a little heavier. This was pushing the limit of what she could handle. She was already sitting with three people who were already dead. As she looked into their smiling faces, Hermione felt like she was going to be sick. She first saw Neville's mother last year in St. Mungo's. His mother, she learned, had been tortured into insanity along with her husband by Bellatrix Lestrange. The very same woman who murdered Sirius.

"Hermione, this is Frank and Alice. They're Gryffindor seventh years and their sickeningly in love."

"Pleased to meet you, Hermione. I hear you're new here." She smiled at her and she almost see Neville.

Hermione looked down. "Yes, I am. Nice to meet you."

She couldn't deal with this.

"I'll be right back. The loo." Hermione rose from the table and made her way to the bathroom. Once she made it through the door, she ran to the sink and grabbed hold of it to steady herself. She turned on the faucet and let the faucet run for a few moments before splashing some cold water on her face.

_Breathe_.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone! A mighty big thank you to sokolski, ChevalierDeDame, ocard99, Jen103, HGRHfan35, slytherinqueen23, Ethereality88, Euphoria123, Deep and Devastating, LoveIt123, and Black's Kitten for reviewing! Please continue to do so!

**Chapter 5: Thinking, That's All**

**Then, without realizing it, you try to improve yourself at the start of each new day; of course, you achieve quite a lot in the course of time. Anyone can do this; it costs nothing and is certainly very helpful. Whoever doesn't know it must learn and find by experience that a quiet conscience makes one strong. ~ Anne Frank**

"I don't think that's such a great idea."

"What are you talking about Remus? It's a brilliant idea!"

"It will lead to your eventual demise, James."

"And your being overly dramatic, Remus," responded Sirius.

The four Marauders were sitting outside beneath their favorite tree next to the lake. As Remus attempted to get caught up on Charms homework, James and Sirius were trying to formulate their newest prank.

"I really like it, Sirius," Peter chipped in.

"Thank you, Wormtail," said Sirius cheerily. "You see, Remus? You've been overruled. Three against one." Remus stared back at his three friends. It wasn't like they didn't get into enough mischief as it was. Why they felt the need to create more trouble was completely beyond him. James and Sirius were devising a plan to turn the Great Hall into a giant swimming pool. The four of them had planned numerous pranks over their years at school together and they attempted to top themselves with each one they executed.

"I'm a prefect now, you know," said Remus calmly, attempting to sound more intimidating than he really was.

Sirius turned towards Remus' direction and his eyes narrowed as he considered him. He had indeed been honored with the title a year before and had suffered a great deal of ridicule from himself and James. With all the mischief they achieved on a daily basis, the idea of Remus being a prefect was a tad absurd. They were the best troublemakers in Hogwarts and they knew the school better than anyone, thanks in large part to Remus. He was a werewolf. When they were young he blamed his periodic disappearances on having a sick mother, but they had been clever enough to figure out the truth over time. After one particularly bad cycle, Remus returned to school with some nasty gashes on his arms. That was the first time they realized something wasn't quite right. After that, it didn't take them very long to realize what was happening.

Sirius, James, and Peter spent the next three years studying to become Animagi. They finally pulled it off during their fifth year and each of them could now turn into a different animal at will. No one knew this, however. It was strict secret between them alone because if they were discovered, they would most likely be expelled. The three of them now accompanied Remus at every full moon and they roamed the Hogwarts' grounds and Hogsmeade like it was their own private world.

It was their presence that made it easier on Remus during those times. They calmed his mind in a way that was indescribable.

"You wouldn't."

"Maybe I would. I can be a real git."

"Oh, you're harmless."

Remus scoffed. "Yeah… I'm very harmless." He stopped smiling and his eyes dropped down to the grass at his feet. He was anything but harmless and he knew it. That white shimmery orb hung on his thoughts like a weight. It never let him down in its ability to turn a good day into a bad one. He wasn't harmless at all. Once a month, when the full moon shone in the night's sky, he was a monster. And there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

_Except…_

_Except his friends…_

He never ceased to acknowledge the risk they took for him. That's what made him happy here. At least most of the time. He had never known that kind of friendship or acceptance before. It didn't make any sort of sense but they always continued to astound him with their unyielding loyalty.

Which was why he would not be ratting them out anytime soon. Sirius knew it as well as he did. Remus' Prefect title was a joke. He would sooner tell the entire Hogwarts population of his affliction before he'd report them to Dumbledore.

Remus conceded. "Alright, alright. You already know I won't say anything. Just try not to wreak too much mayhem. I don't know what Dumbledore's breaking point is. He might actually expel you one of these days."

"Dumbledore won't expel us," responded James. "He thinks we are far too amusing for that. I personally witnessed him chuckle when I charmed Slughorn's chair to transform into a giant slug when he sat down."

"That reminds me. There's a Slug club meeting Thursday night. Should we go?"

"Sure, why not? I've been craving those bon bons he's got," replied Sirius. He had never been fond of Slughorn's favoritism, but he did like free food.

"He still doesn't invite me to those dinners," added Peter rather morosely.

"Don't worry about it, Peter. You're still going to go. We wouldn't leave you behind. You know that."

Sirius gave him a quick pat on the back before continuing his conversation with James. They had only been in school a week and it was already shaping up to be a pretty interesting year. They were now free from the inconvenience of O.W.L.s, the Maurader's Map was nearing completion, he no longer had to put up his so-called family, and there was a new Gryffindor who needed his attention. She was rather shy but he had no doubt that she would warm up to him fairly quickly.

And he had time. He found her to be so intriguing that for once he was in no rush to start the relationship. What he considered to be a relationship anyway. He was having a hell of a time just trying to figure her out.

It had been a nice couple of days since Hermione had landed right on top of him. It was the beginning of September and the sun was out and it was nice to be outside. The Marauders spent a great deal of time by the lake when the weather was warm and they spent even more time on the Quidditch field. James was seeker for the Gryffindor team and had just been named team captain. Sirius joined the team the year before and was now a chaser. He hoped to keep that spot this coming year once he went through tryouts in a few weeks. He was pretty good player and he didn't have much doubt that he would keep his spot on the team.

Time was passing much more slowly for Hermione than it was for the Marauders. She was suffering from so much anxiety that she had little time to concentrate on anything else and was more than happy to be done with the weekend and start classes. It wasn't that Lily and Margo weren't good company. They were wonderful. It was just that it was almost unnerving to be with them.

_You're dead, Lily._

_You're dead and I can't tell you. In just a few more years your life will go out like the flame of a candle. Voldemort will go after you and you'll put your faith in the wrong person._

She so badly wanted to tell her about Peter. Everything that happened.

_Wrong, Hermione. Everything that WILL happen._

She had the opportunity. She could sit her down and explain everything. Even if she didn't believe, Hermione could put enough doubt in her mind to change things. If she said something about Peter, then maybe she could prevent him from ever becoming their secret keeper.

… And Harry could grow up with a family.

But she couldn't say anything. Not ever. That would be breaking the rules.

So instead she had to bear to sit back and watch as history unfolded in front of her, in small but great increments, with her powerless to stop it.

This was why she was so happy to see the weekend come to a close. It was too much to watch both Lily, Margo, and even the Marauders as they laughed and joked, wholly unaware of what was waiting for them just around the corner. As she walked with all of them down to the dungeons for her first class in 1976, she whispered a thank you for finally having the one thing back that calmed her nerves and gave her a distraction from everything else in her life. _Homework._

"So Hermione, have you been enjoying yourself?" asked Remus pleasantly as they walked down the final flight of stairs toward the dungeons.

"Um, yes. I am. Thanks for asking."

"Anytime. If you need anything, feel free to let any one of us know." He leaned over and began to whisper so he'd be out of earshot of his friends. "I should warn you, some of my friends can be a wee bit friendly. And don't have the longest attention spans. I don't say this to put them down. They're fantastic, but you should know what you're getting yourself in for if you choose to do to so."

Hermione smiled weakly. "Thanks, Remus. You don't need to worry. There's no interest."

Remus laughed. "Yeah, I don't blame you. They can be clever as hell but they can be rather easy to see through."

"Oh, it's not that. I'm just not interested in anyone. Simple as that."

Remus considered her. She certainly was different.

The group eventually reached their destination, the Potions classroom. They walked in and found their seats, Hermione taking a spot beside Lily and Margo towards the middle of the room with Marauders seated behind them. As she began to remove her book and supplies from her bag, their Potions professor stepped into the room. Hermione gaped. It was Slughorn. _Of course_. Why wouldn't it be Slughorn?

"Good morning, 6th years! I hope each of you had a decent weekend and are fully prepared to throw yourselves back into potions!" His voice was even more booming than it was as she had known it. It took all her self-control to keep from rolling her eyes. At least some things don't change.

"I hear we have a new student! A Miss Hermione Bennett? Can Miss Bennett please stand up?"

_Nooooo._

Hermione hated these moments. She could never stand being the center of attention. She liked being noticed for cleverness by her teachers and piers, but that was it. Situations like these just seemed awkward.

She stood slowly, hating the action and mentally cringing as every pair of eyes in the room turned towards her. Keeping her eyes focused and staring directly at the blackboard in front her, she avoided the looks of every student in the room. Slughorn smiled encouragingly and did her best to return it but she was afraid it may have appeared more like a grimace. He instructed the class to say a collective hello and Hermione was more than relieved when given the permission to sit down.

"Alright class! Today we shall be moving forward into even more advanced potion making. I'm sorry, Miss Bennett but I'm afraid I'll have to start you on the first potion we went over last week. The Draught of Living Death. I want to make sure everyone is on the same page. As for everyone else, I want you turn to page 12 in your textbooks and get started."

Hermione nodded at Slughorn. She of course had already had the class to which he was referring. However, she hadn't done very well so she glad to have another crack at it. It was Harry who had succeeded that day in making the best potion, to her surprise, and it had been because of a used book that he had found in the Potions room cupboard which gave him different instructions in the margins than the original directions. She could admit it. It annoyed her that he was able to make a perfect potion without doing any actual work, but now she knew the faults of the textbook, she felt no reason why she couldn't use the same directions Harry had.

She spend the majority of her time focused on what she was doing, thinking back to the week before. The time passed quickly and for that she was grateful. She could always lose herself in work. Before she knew it, Slughorn was announcing the end of class and began making the rounds at each of the tables to examine each student's work.

She grew restless as she waited for Slughorn to reach her. Sirius and James couldn't stand being unoccupied and began making some noise which continued to escalate with the more time that Slughorn took. It had been double potions with the Slytherins and to her amazement, they had actually gotten through the class with minimal interruption.

Slughorn was at a Slytherin's table when he admitted a very load cheer. Someone must have excelled.

"This is the best Befuddlement Draught I have seen in quite a long time!"

Hermione glanced in their direction for lack of anything better to do. The moment she did so, however, she paused and her eyes locked on the boy to whom Slughorn was referring. She only had a view of the back of his head but something seemed horribly familiar. He was rather lanky with shoulder-length black hair that seemed to be in need of a wash.

_It can't be._

_Of course it can. Where do you think you are, Hermione? You're in 1976. You already know what the answer is. _

In an effort to get a better look, she began to lean over in her chair. She needed to know for sure and she had never been very patient. After gripping the edge of the table for support, Hermione allowed two of the legs of the stool to leave the ground.

_I still can't see him. Damn. _

_Just….a little bit further._

All of a sudden the Potions class was interrupted by a dreadfully earsplitting bang as Hermione and her stool hit the ground in a clatter.

Every head turned towards her, some rising from their seats to get a better look.

"Oh gods, Hermione! Are you alright?" exclaimed Lily in concern.

She groaned. "Yeah, I'm fine…Completely fine." _Horribly embarrassed was more like it._

James and Sirius looked at each other with eyebrows raised and mouths slightly open. Sirius chose to speak first.

"She does that a lot, doesn't she?" 


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everybody! So sorry it takes me so long to update sometimes but it just seems to be one thing after another these days. But I promise you all that I WILL stay on top of it. A very big thank you to driver picks the music, Jen103, HGRHfan35, ****slytherinqueen23, ****Tecumseh Dean, Albuslover8101, and QueenOfWeird1995 for reviewing the last chapter. I really appreciate the reviews. They keep me motivated and any suggestions are very welcome. And to answer HGRHfan35's question…you will just have to keep reading. :) but don't worry. I plan on this story having a happy yet reasonable ending. Now on with Chapter 6!**

**Chapter 6: Of Past Regret and Future Fear**

"**So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald **

Hermione had not been a witness to the death of Sirius Black. In all the chaos and fighting at the Ministry she had been struck with a near fatal curse and had suffered from severe internal bleeding. She had been unconscious when he had fallen through the veil. All she knew of his death was what Harry had told her, which wasn't very much. He still had great difficulty speaking about it. But she guessed there hadn't been much to tell to begin with. He had fallen into the unknown, simple as that, to a place where no one could follow.

It wasn't fair. Sirius was the last real family that Harry had. After everything he had already lost, this particular blow was nothing short of cruel.

Things began to change after he was gone. It made the war real to them, tangible, more than Cedric's death ever could have done. The danger was there in a way that it hadn't been before.

Along with the pain.

Every member of the Order felt his absence. It hung like a weight on the front of their minds. Sirius, the constant fighter and unforgiving rebel. The two of them had never been truly close and to be honest, he actually had driven her crazy on a number of occasions. But none of that seemed to matter anymore. All that mattered was that…he had been important.

Hermione had never told anyone but she had missed him. She missed his honesty, how direct he could be and unafraid of hurting anyone's precious sensitivities. His bark-like laughter and bright smile that could light up a room. She even missed his immaturity, because it was a part of who he was and he had been nothing short of unique.

That man could stand out in a crowd, if only he had the chance to be in a crowd more often. She understood him now in a way she hadn't when he was alive and she now felt ashamed of the way she had thought of him. How hard it must have been, to have gone from being a soldier in the war against Voldemort to being trapped. Not unlike herself. The entire year proceeding his death he had been stuck in that damn house and she had looked down on him for trying to make some sort of difference in the only way he knew how to do so. He had unconsciously been living through Harry and for the life of her she had no idea why that used bothered her so much. He just wanted what everyone wanted….to be of use and to make some sort of difference in a world gone mad.

She didn't want to think about this anymore.

It was about two thirty in the morning. Hermione didn't want to disturb her roommates so she had migrated down to the common room to have some time to herself. All was quiet and the only light came from the fireplace in the front of the room. She had been staring into the bright orange flames for almost an hour and had yet to fall asleep. It had been a little over a week since she had fallen through time and her whole life had spun out of her control. Rarely did she have anytime alone since then. Lily and Margo were fully intent on seeing that she remained occupied in some way or another.

She still hadn't processed it all, this strange world she had landed herself in. There were a few nights when she had been unable to sleep and this was certainly one of them. Pulling her feet up onto the couch with the rest of her, she attempted to read. Hermione had always adored books, ever since she was a child. As her eyes roamed their pages, it gave her a sense of calm few other things could. She attempted to regain that feeling as pulled _A Farewell to Arms_ up to her chest.

_If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry._

There was something special in Hemingway's simple prose. He transformed into words what she could only feel.

As of late Hermione felt a great deal of sorrow, for all they had lost and all they would soon lose. So many had died and she knew there would be others who would follow. It was happening every day. Families broken apart, wizards and witches and muggles alike gone missing or found murdered. She wanted to be back home where she belonged where at least she could do something, anything. Harry needed her to be there. There wasn't anything she could do in 1976. She was just stuck. Stuck watching as history unfolded before her with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

She used to say she was just a simple realist, but she could admit it now. Pessimism had become a close and loyal companion with no indication of leaving her side anytime soon. The war was breaking them, bit by bit, and soon there would be nothing left to lose.

She began to lose interest in Hemingway as she lost herself deep in thought once more. Thoughts which didn't even have the strength to form words. These particular thoughts just hung there in her mind like dead weight and she couldn't bury them there or brush them away.

The sound of quick and sudden footsteps broke her stupor. Hermione turned her head sharply in time to see Sirius walking down the stairs to the common room.

"Hermione!" Sirius called in surprise. "I didn't realize you were such an early riser." Jumping over the back of the couch with grace, he joined her instead of heading directly to his planned destination.

She noticed how pleasant and put-together he appeared despite the lateness of the hour…or early, and she couldn't help but be a little envious. Her bushy hair was more out of her control than ever, giving her the appearance of looking like she had just been struck by lightning. She slowly pulled her knees up to her chest and set the book on the table.

"So…tell me. Is your bed too uncomfortable? No, wait, I know. Lily snores."

Hermione snorted.

"No, nothing like that." _If only snoring was the cause of my insomnia…If only I could be so lucky._

"Then what's on your mind?"

"Nothing's on my mind."

"Yes, there is."

"No there isn't. I'm perfectly fine." Hermione glanced up to look him in the eye but was taken aback by the intensity of his stare.

"You're not fine."

She looked at him again but held her gaze this time, with as much nerve as she could muster. She was not going to have this conversation. They would never have this conversation.

"Why won't you talk to me? Am I thoroughly repulsive? An ass? A complete wanker?"

"It has nothing to do with you Sirius!" yelled Hermione in growing irritation. She sighed heavily in an attempt to calm herself. "Look. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don't need you to tell me what is or isn't on my mind. You don't know me."

"I want to know you."

She decided to not respond. There was no winning with him and she just didn't have the energy to argue.

Sirius' bold statement hung in the air as an uncomfortable silence began to grow between them. He didn't know what else to say. He supposed he would have to wait if he was going to have a chance of understanding her a little better.

As minutes past by without either making a move to break it, he decided to change the subject…slightly.

"I'm hungry."

"What?" asked Hermione, taken off guard.

"You heard me. I'm hungry. Since you won't tell me why you're out of bed at such a late hour, I might as well tell you why I am," Sirius explained. "And I'm hungry. Starving, actually. I'd kill for a muffin."

"A muffin?" she responded with a little sass.

"What's wrong with muffins?"

Hermione smiled. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong with muffins."

"Or a banana."

"Bananas?"

"Now you have something against bananas?"

"No! I like bananas." She giggled. "Bananas are good. Excellent source of potassium."

"You're mocking me!"

"No, I'm not! I swear!" And then she could not stop herself. He was behaving so ridiculously. She allowed herself to laugh at him before quickly regaining her composure once again.

"You remind me of someone."

"Who's that?" asked Sirius with genuine curiosity.

"A friend of mine. Best friend, actually," she started. "He loves eating. He never really stops. No self-control whatsoever." She grinned unabashedly. "And he has no idea when to stop talking."

He scoffed in an exaggerated sort of way. "Oh, I'm not like that at all. No idea what you're talking about." She rolled her eyes.

"So…will you or will you not accompany me to the kitchens?"

"I think I'll stay right here."

"Oh, don't be a bad sport. Come with me!"

"But we're not allowed out after hours." _As if that's ever stopped you before._

"That's not a problem. I know this castle like the back of my hand."

Remembering the Marauder's Map, she responded, "I'm sure you do."

"Then will you? Please? You won't regret it, I promise you. We have the best éclairs ever made. I know you lived in France but believe me; you have not lived until you've tried one."

She smiled hesitantly.

"Or you could just have a muffin." Laughing out loud, her resistance began to falter.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to take him up on his offer. What harm could it do? She wasn't going to let anything happen and an innocent trip to the kitchens didn't mean anything.

"Well…I suppose I could eat," started Hermione, yielding. "However, I don't want to be out for very long."

"Right you are. I just wanted a quick trip myself. You'll be back on the sofa there before you know it."

Throwing off her blanket, she began to get up and put on her slippers. She was in her pajamas but she felt no need to get dressed properly. Slowly approaching Sirius, she braced herself.

"Lead the way."

The pair exited through the portrait hole, trying to make as little noise as possible. James hadn't told Sirius where he had last stashed the invisibility cloak and it was highly unwise to wake him unnecessarily in the middle of the night. Therefore he decided to go without it. He wasn't too worried though. Filch hardly ever roamed the corridors this late and Peeves had never given him a lick of trouble.

Hermione, of course, already knew how to get to the kitchens. She had made frequent trips to further her efforts in SPEW. It occurred to her as they journeyed through the dark corridors of the castle that SPEW would be a nice way to spend her time, a distraction from everything else. Sirius took hold of her hand as they descended the last steep flight of stairs and she made no effort to pull it away. Later she would wonder whether that had been a mistake.

The two finally arrived at the portrait leading to the kitchen without incident. Sirius stopped in front of the giant pear and grinned at Hermione, behaving as if he held the key to some secret and special world that she could only dream of. The height of excitement.

The Kitchens.

Food.

_Boys. Oh, Merlin's beard. Do they ever stop eating?_

"Are you ready?"

"Um…yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh"

"Are you positive?"

"Sirius, really? Just get on with it."

"Alright, alright. Ruin all my fun, why don't you," he teased in mock complaint.

Sirius proceeded to tickle the pear in the portrait and it almost immediately detached itself from the wall to reveal a small passage way behind it. He gestured for her to go first and she did, noticing as walked in the tiny inscrutable changes that had occurred over the passage of time. There was an immediate onslaught of house elves at their side by the time her guide had made it through the passage way himself.

The pair of them were quickly seated at a nearby table and an overwhelming amount of food of all kinds were brought to them in record time, including the éclairs Sirius had spoken so much about. She feigned pleasant surprise as she ate, having already been well acquainted with Hogwarts cooking for the past five years. The first few minutes past in comfortable silence. Sirius eventually found the need to speak, as he usually did, being quite fond of conversation in general.

"So who was that friend I reminded you so much of?" asked Sirius in curiosity. "What was his name?"

Hermione paused as she listened to his inquiry. This could turn into a rather hazardous conversation if she let it, if she allowed something to slip. She decided to be honest, to an extent, and chose her words carefully.

"His name was…Rob," she answered.

"Was he someone you knew from school?"

"Yes, he was a friend from school." _An uncomfortable feeling she couldn't quite identify._

"Do you miss him? Were the two of you close?"

She stayed silent for a moment, letting a number of old memories wash over her. Giant slugs, the Yule Ball, grabbing hold of his hand as they ran through the forest away from the oncoming Death Eaters. She released a small yet heavy sigh as she suddenly felt as if she had been punched in the chest. It had not been so long ago that she had seen them, yet they already seemed so far away. And they were. They were so far away.

"Yes," began Hermione faintly. "I do miss them." Harry and Ron were her anchor. Without them by her side she was unstable…lost. Travelling in a thousand different directions.

"Them?"

"Harry."

_Damn it. _The word slipped out before she could stop it.

"So Harry and Rob? Those were your friends?"

"Yes…they were lovely."

"Will the three of you be keeping in touch?"

"As best we can," she replied softly. And then, barely thinking, she added, "You and James remind me of them."

"How so?" he asked. "I mean, besides the eating habits." They both smiled, and this time the smile reached Hermione's eyes. Her gaze locked on his and for a moment she couldn't bring herself to look away.

"Each of you have a certain…talent for trouble. It always finds them, whether they're looking for it or not."

"I think I might just get along with this Harry and Rob."

"Oh, I have no doubt that you would." After a moment she added, "You seem like you get along well with a lot of people."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well," she started. "You just seem to know a lot of people; umm…I've noticed… a lot of people have their eye on you." She looked down at her éclair, immediately embarrassed and wishing she hadn't led the conversation in this direction.

"Maybe that's true." Hermione rolled her eyes, still gazing at her plate.

"Alright, yes, it's a bit true but…" He paused and for the first time he didn't know how to continue.

And he was speaking to a girl. _How odd._

"But I really only care about who my eyes are on right now."

Her quick intake of breath was the only sound she emitted for quite awhile as she gaped at Sirius, realizing as she did so that he was sincere. He seemed so different. How had she fallen into this mess? How could she have allowed this to happen? She could barely even register that it _was_ happening. Her best friend's godfather was sitting across the table and she was beginning to see him in a new perspective. A perspective she would never have thought possible.

And that scared the shit out of her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everyone! I can't believe it! I'm updating so soon! Yay! A huge monstrous thank you to slytherinqueen23, ocard99, HGRHfan35, KnickKnackBlack, QueenOfWeird1995, Areej, and driver picks the music for reviewing the last chapter! Very much appreciated! Hope you all enjoy Chapter 7! **

**Chapter 7: Something's Missing**

**People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect... but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly.... timey-wimey.... stuff. ~ Doctor Who**

**(1996)**

Harry was staring rather intently at the Marauder's Map, his eyes unconsciously searching for not one but two distinct names. One of these he knew he would not find no matter how long he stared at the worn paper. The other name was that of Draco Malfoy. He was here somewhere. He had to be. There was no plausible way in which he could sneak off the school grounds, but for the life of him he still could not find him on the map. Malfoy was up to something and Harry was determined to find out what it was. Harry owed him. He wanted to pay him back in kind for what he had done. If it had not been for Malfoy, he would still have both his best friends by his side.

She wasn't here. And now he didn't know what to do. She had always been there to tell him the answers when he was unsure or afraid. Hermione guided him on the journeys he knew he could not face alone.

_"Harry--you're a great wizard, you know."  
"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let him go.  
"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things--friendship and bravery and--oh Harry--be careful!" _

Be careful. That's what she would be saying if she were by his side at that very moment. Be careful. Keep his eyes open.

And that was exactly what he was trying to do.

Ever since Borgin and Burkes, Harry had been convinced that there was more going on than what met the eye. This belief was made even more concrete after what he had overheard on the Hogwarts Express. Something sinister was happening but they were all too blind to see it. Ron probably thought he was mental for dwelling on it so much but he was right. He felt it.

He only wished Hermione was here. Things were much more difficult to decipher with her gone. Not only was his mind filled with wonderings of Malfoy, but he was also preoccupied due to meetings with Dumbledore concerning Voldemort's past and of the task that lay ahead of him. _Neither can live while the other survives._ He couldn't decide whether these voyages into the headmaster's pensieve were making things clearer or more convoluted. It was only making him realize that there was still so much he didn't understand.

"You alright, Harry?"

He drew his attention away from the Marauder's Map and back towards Ron. They were supposed to be practicing spells without saying the incantation aloud. However, without Hermione, neither were even attempting to stay on task. Charms was not the best class in keeping one's concentration. Too much distraction.

"Flitwick is coming around. I figure we better look productive."

"Right…yeah," responded Harry, attempting to get back on task. They were trying to enlarge small pumpkins.

_Engorgio_, thought Harry in deep concentration. His pumpkin grew feebly and then quickly returned to its original size. He tried twice more but got no farther.

"Can't focus?" asked Ron knowingly. Harry sighed heavily and lowered his wand.

"This is pointless."

"I know what you mean," acknowledged Ron. "Let's face it. We need some serious help."

"It feels wrong, doesn't it? With her gone," he continued. Ron had taken Hermione's disappearance especially hard, Harry had noticed. His friend had great difficulty concentrating and was suffering from lack of sleep. His tossing and turning throughout the nights had occasionally awoken Harry as well. It had only been a few weeks but Hermione's absence was already taking its toll. It was a reality they would both have to face if they even had a chance of getting through the year in one piece.

A moment later Flitwick migrated to where Harry and Ron were practicing. Not only did he draw closer to observe the two perform the desired spell for that day's lesson, but he also came with a note to deliver to Harry which a fellow student had just delivered. Harry seized it, burning with curiosity. Recognizing Dumbledore's neat scrawl immediately on the front of the envelope, Harry tore it open. As far as he knew, he didn't have another meeting with Dumbledore until next week.

_Dear Harry,_

_If you would please join me in my office immediately, I would be most grateful. I feel you would like to address the topic at hand sooner rather than later. I also love Chocolate Frogs._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

"Professor Flitwick, I need to leave."

"Yes, yes, I know Potter. I received a note as well. Not to worry! Just remember to practice for homework! Off you go, then!"

Harry shot a look at Ron communicating that they would speak later. As he exited the classroom he distinctly heard Flitwick yell in a panic, "No, no, no! Enlarge the pumpkin! Not my head, Mr. Weasley!"

"Sorry! Sorry!"exclaimed Ron in a panic.

Harry laughed at the episode wishing he could stay and watch but also filled with anticipation. It must be something of importance if Dumbledore felt the need to call him out of class. He jogged in a steady pace until he reached the Headmaster's office and wasted no time in bounding up the steps, not unlike he did when Hermione disappeared. Almost as if he knew Harry was there, Dumbledore called him in before he even knocked on the door.

Harry opened the door hastily but stopped dead in his tracks almost immediately. He stared rather dumbfounded at his old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, whom he hardly expected to see but who had been on his mind for awhile.

"Hello, Harry," said Remus with composure.

"Professor Lupin!" cried Harry. He appeared to be shabbier than ever. A number of wrinkles and creases shown on his outer robes. His shoes even had a few holes that needed patching. Harry guessed that he must be living rough and he wondered how long it had been since he had been employed.

"Please call me Remus, Harry."

His old teacher was leaning against the fireplace on the side of Dumbledore's study while Dumbledore himself sat at his usual post behind his desk. Both of them seemed rather tense as far as Harry could tell and he felt he could guess what his summoning was about. A week ago Harry had written to Remus asking for answers.

"Harry," started Remus. "I know how confused you must be…so I decided it would be fairer to you if I answered your letter in person." He paused, not wanting to continue. He would not tell him everything. He couldn't. It wasn't his place. Hermione had to the right to speak both to Harry and Ron in her own way, in her own time. For now, he could only explain the basics, but he owed Harry that much at least.

"I just want to know what happened," Harry said while taking the seat Remus had indicated.

"I know," he responded.

"She fell into our lives…literally," started Remus suppressing a small dark chuckle. "She fell into our lives and made a hell of a splash. And then she disappeared as easily as she had come. We didn't know who she really was for a long time. But…something happened. She knew something she wasn't supposed to know and then everything changed. What started out as a budding friendship became something much different. She became the possessor of knowledge of a future we couldn't foresee. She never said anything and I know that upset her quite severely." Remus paused, allowing his young friend to absorb this information.

"What wasn't she supposed to know?"

"They were things I told the three of you."

Harry stared questionably.

"In the Shrieking Shack," he continued. "She knew I was a werewolf and that James, Sirius, and Peter were Animagi. There were a number of other instances in which Hermione said things that just didn't add up. The four of us were reckless at times but there was still no way that she could have known as much as she did."

"So you were friends?" asked Harry apprehensively.

"Yes," answered Remus with a sad smile. "I like to believe we were close."

"And my parents? And Sirius?"

"She became close with your parents and…Sirius."

Harry became quiet. He couldn't quite identify the emotions he was feeling. Was it jealousy? Loss? Before he had spoken to Lupin his mind was brimming with questions. Now he didn't know of what else to ask. She was there and he was here.

He sat down in one of the grand chairs placed in front of Dumbledore's desk. Remus knew more than what he was letting on but Harry didn't think it would be right to push him.

"I'm sorry we had to keep this from you, Harry, but it was necessary."

"It's alright," said Harry quickly, not truly believing it to be alright.

"I can tell you one more thing." Remus knew this particular detail would mean the world to Harry and it wouldn't do any harm to tell him. "Despite warnings to the contrary, Hermione did tell us a few details of our future. She asked me to tell your parents about you once they were engaged. She wanted me to tell them how very special you were. Looking back on it, I now know why. I want you to know Harry…they could not have been more proud of you, the person they brought into this world."

Remus moved to shorten the distance between them and slowly sat down next to Harry, never taking his eyes off his face.

"I have to ask something of you, Harry," said Remus solemnly. "When Hermione returns…go easy on her. Give her time. She'll need it."

Harry didn't understand why Lupin stressed this particular point. What could have been so terrible that she wouldn't have been able to talk about it? Especially with him. There were so many unanswered questions.

_Groping in the dark…not knowing exactly what you're looking for. _

"I'm sorry, Harry, but I'm afraid I need to leave. I have to continue in my work for the Order. I won't be able to write you, but if there is an urgent instance when you need me let Professor Dumbledore know and he can contact me." Remus laid a heavy hand on Harry's shoulder, attempting to convey every word that was being left unsaid. With a heavy heart he rose to leave. He would have stayed longer if he could but he really had to return. He was hardly making any headway with the other werewolves.

As he exited Dumbledore's study, he watched as Harry laid his head in his hands. It was a sight that deeply troubled him, but there was nothing more he could do. The secrets and the stories belonged to Hermione. Glancing one last time in Dumbledore's direction, the old man returned a gaze which somehow said, _Don't worry. I have it under control. You can go._

He left without another word. Almost numb, he walked slowly through the castle to leave. Passing by a certain corridor, he remembered how there was a secret passage way leading to dungeons. He and his friends had used it countless times when they had been late to class. It was a pleasant memory. He chuckled a little to himself as it replayed in his mind.

_Sirius led Hermione through the adjacent hall and around the corner, his hand wrapped around her waist. _

"_Do you have any idea how little time we have left, Sirius? I am never late to class. Never, Sirius! Just stop! We are going in completely the wrong direction." _

_She sounded so agitated. _

_Sirius was grinning like an idiot, so proud he knew something she didn't. _

"_Shush, ignorant child," he responded, pulling her forward. _

_Remus followed them at a fast-paced jog, finding his friend's antics amusing yet remarkably irritating._

"_Really Sirius! I don't have time for this. I'm going back."_

_Hermione almost managed to escape from his grip but he managed to grab hold of her hand. He pulled her back against his chest with ease. He smiled devilishly as he took that hand of hers and pressed it up against a block of the wall they had just reached. To Hermione's surprise, that hand did not feel anything but empty space. She groped with both hands further into the wall which was not a wall at all. She quickly decided to just walk in to quell her curiosity, passing through the dark empty passage with Sirius and Remus right behind her. Within just a few strides she exited to find herself directly in front of the double doors leading to Potions. Remus watched as Hermione turned around to find Sirius looking back at her with the smuggest look he had ever seen. _

_Hermione was obviously going through some sort of internal struggle. It was apparent that she was either feeling a great deal of gratitude or she wanted to smack him for not just telling her he knew a short cut._

"_After you, darling," smiled Sirius. _

Remus chuckled a bit to himself, attempting to stifle the sound in the otherwise silent hall. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he began to descend the steps leading to the Entrance Hall. He reached the bottom of the staircase and ran directly into none other than Nymphadora Tonks.

"Remus!" cried Tonks in surprise. "I didn't know you were here."

Remus gazed into her face, looking past that hopeful expression. She looked terrible, almost sick. She seemed to get worse after every one of their encounters over the last few months. He did not mean to hurt her, but this wasn't something he wanted. It was hardly something she wanted either. She just didn't realize it yet.

"Hello, Nymphadora," responded Remus curtly.

"Tonks, please," she replied somewhat exasperated. "Remus, I'm not exactly sure what to say… I don't understand your reasoning. Please just…tell me what you're thinking."

"You know what I'm thinking, Tonks. I've already told you. You just don't want to accept what I'm thinking."

Tonks looked down at her feet and folded her arms across her chest. In almost a whisper she said, "I seem to think more highly of you than you have ever thought of yourself."

"Maybe that's true," spoke Remus softly. "But it's irrelevant. I'm sorry but I really have to go." Remus made a move to pass by her but she stopped him. Laying her hand against his chest, she drew closer and he ceased in his attempt to walk away.

Her eyes were bright blue today, like the sky. He could not stop looking into them as hard as he tried.

She returned his gaze with the same level of intensity.

No one had looked at him like that in a long time. Not that way. It was as if she could see right through him, to his very core.

With her eyes never leaving his, she kissed him. It was soft at first but soon became something much more forceful, fueled by a long suppressed desire. She gripped the front of his robes in her hands and pulled him closer so there was no space between them. He brought his hands to each side of her waist without thinking.

The silence that had encompassed them in their mutual moment of need was broken by the sound of young students breaking free from the drudgery of class on their way to the Great Hall for lunch.

Remus snapped out of his moment of weakness and pulled away. He could not let this happen. Not again.

_Not ever again_.

"I have to go," mumbled Remus, now doing everything in his power to avoid eye contact.

"Remus, please. Wait! Don't walk away!" she cried.

But he did walk away, as fast as his legs would allow him. He practically bolted towards the front doors and ignored Tonks desperately calling him to come back. He was a man who learned from his mistakes and he never made the same mistake twice.

So he kept walking.

And he did not look back.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8: Let's Live for Today**

**If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun. – Katherine Hepburn**

Playing idly with her scrambled eggs and toast, Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table with her head in her hands attempting to pass the time before her first class of the day. To her great surprise, Transfigurations with Professor McGonagall had turned out to be her favorite class instead of the usual Arithmancy.

It was clear that the Marauders could get away with just about anything in her class. She never did much to control their antics; for it seemed that she enjoyed them nearly as much as the rest of the Gryffindors. This was clearly a much more easy going McGonagall than the one she was used to. She would only jump in before real mayhem ensued. Hermione just hated such distractions normally, but Sirius, James, and even Remus could be so entertaining that she didn't mind it so much.

On the whole, her classes were going quite well despite her recent lack of sleep. Sirius had made a habit of visiting her in the common room in the middle of the night. Together they would sit on the sofa or partake in occasional escapades to the kitchens for midnight snacking. It was obvious that Sirius made a real effort to stay awake at times. As much as Sirius would like to believe he had unwavering stamina, Hermione often caught him drifting off as she told various stories or tidbits she read in books. When similar situations occurred with Harry and Ron, she would become frustrated at their lack of concentration. In Sirius' case, however, the effort he made was so endearing that whenever he did fall peacefully asleep, she never got angry. She simply pulled a blanket up to his chin and went upstairs to bed. It was as if that innocent face erased all the terrible memories and bad dreams, if only for a little while. Once she even brushed a strand of his dark soft hair out of his eyes. At that precise moment, she felt as if she knew him better than anyone else in the world.

Hermione kept reminding herself that this man was Harry's godfather, a person who she could never think about in such a way. He was almost twenty years her senior. The idea itself was absurd.

_Correction_.

It was positively mortifying. She couldn't even bear the idea of something happening between them and Harry eventually finding out. She wouldn't be surprised he would consider it a betrayal.

_No_.

That was a line she could never cross. Yes, he could be charming. And yes, he was handsome. But that didn't detract from the awesome reality of who this man was and what he would eventually become.

Lily and Margo sat across from Hermione at the table. Margo was her abundantly chipper self chatting away while Lily silently sipped at her hot mug of black coffee with her eyes only partially open.

Hermione was only barely listening to Margo. She was barely able to stay focused on her eggs. However, her attention was quickly brought back when the tone of Margo's voice abruptly changed to one of pure exasperation.

"Oooh no," grumbled Margo, her voice filled with annoyance.

"What's the matter?" asked Hermione, slowly sipping on her pumpkin juice.

Lily immediately sprang to attention, following Margo's gaze and Hermione did the same. As Hermione turned, each of the Marauders slowly entered the Great Hall and Hermione spit her out her pumpkin juice all over her breakfast. It was the most ridiculous thing she had ever seen.

"Good gods," exclaimed Lily. "It's the Napoleon walk." And Lily was right. It wasn't really a walk at all. It was a strut if she had ever seen one. The four of them marched in like they owned the place but that wasn't it.

_Bathing suits_. They were wearing bathing suits, brightly colored and decorated with little yellow ducks.

And they couldn't more confident.

With her jaw dropped and her eyes as wide as dinner plates, she wondered what it was they could possibly be up to. As if Lily was reading her thoughts, she ventured a guess.

"They're planning something and whenever the four of them plan, mayhem ensues," she said. "We should get out of here. This won't be good."

Lily moved to get up but Margo and Hermione were so entranced that they just sat watching their peers approach. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all shirtless and weren't wearing any shoes. They eventually reached the strip of table where Hermione and the girls were eating. As they sat down, James squished himself between Lily and an unfortunate third year. She attempted to move but Sirius managed to maneuver himself onto her other side. Lily could not have looked more uncomfortable and James could not have looked more smug. In an attempt to ignore James' presence, she turned to Sirius.

"So…," she started. "What exactly are you up to? Going for a swim?" she asked sarcastically.

Sirius squinted his eyes and conjured a look of extreme mock concentration. "I'm not sure what you mean, Lily."

"Oh, come on, Sirius. You're wearing nothing but a bathing suit."

"What are you trying to say?"

"People are staring. The teachers are staring!" she yelled, exasperated.

Sirius lowered his sunglasses to the tip of his nose and glanced towards the head table.

"No, Dumbledore is actually giggling but that's beside the point," he responded. "The point is that we aren't required to have our robes on until class so until then I'm much more comfortable in my trunks."

"You're right, Padfoot," Remus added. "Much more breezy, this way. We should do this more often."

"Are you honestly all saying that you just dressed like this for the hell of it? Just for the attention?"

"Excuse me? We never seek attention. We all strive for quiet lives. Isn't that right, Peter?" responded James.

"Oh but of course," he answered.

"No," Margo jumped in. "No. You four are always up to something else. You like to dazzle. We know you well enough by now that we recognize when you're pleased with yourself. And you are just putting all of your energy into concealing that grin of yours, Sirius."

Sirius said nothing, but as Hermione studied him she realized he was truly concentrating awfully hard. Margo was right. They were planning something. She knew it to be a prank based on their previous behavior and all the stories she had heard about them over the last few years.

"Sirius is just naturally cheerful," James said, chugging down some pumpkin juice in just a few gulps.

"He is a Santa Clause on uppers getting snogged," described Remus.

Hermione noticed that the entire body of students accumulated in the Great Hall were taking turns to stare at the foursome. Some of the girls were particularly interested, whistling to them with the occasional holler directed toward James and Sirius and despite what they would say to the contrary, it was obvious that they basked in the attention.

Sirius finished a slice of toast and looked at his comrades knowingly. He slowly removed his sunglasses and slipped them into his pocket. Running his fingers through his perfect hair he cried, "Allonse-y!"

All was silent for just a moment…

And then the mayhem began.

In less than a second, the fork Hermione was holding in her hand disappeared, along with every other item on the Gryffindor table. She heard Lily exclaim some very interesting choice of words before the table itself vanished into thin air. Before she even could process it, the bench on which she sat was gone as well and she felt herself plummet to the ground.

But to her great surprise, she didn't hit the ground at all. Plunging into a pool of water, it took her a moment to regain her sense of awareness. Everyone in the hall appeared to be in the same state of shock as she except, of course, the Marauders.

Sirius was laughing at her flabbergasted expression. They were all sopping wet and the reason for their ridiculous outfits became suddenly clear.

She sputtered and then screamed, "I can't believe you!"

Sirius only snickered, his eyes shining with delight at the unbridled success of his latest prank. Those eyes were for her and her alone and Hermione began to feel bare under his gaze. Quickly averting her own eyes, she focused her attention on Lily who was trying her best to look royally pissed off. James remained unfazed in spite of her death glare, producing a water pistol with his wand and proceeding to fill it with water.

"No, no, James! Stop! Don't come near me with that thing!" Lily screamed nervously. James smiled and so did everyone else as they predicted what would come next. He shot the water pistol in the air and emitted what could only be described as a war call.

James got Lily full in the face. Sopping wet and angry as an insulted hippogriff, she retaliated by splashing water right back at him. It did not take long for water fights to break out all over the Great Hall. Sirius had Hermione completely drenched before long and Remus, Margo, and Peter were going at it not too far away. The shining moment of the entire episode surely belonged to Lily, however.

The expression on James' face as she jumped on his back and brought him toppling down with a splash took the cake. With his attention focused on Sirius, he never saw her coming. It was at that moment, with the other boys' attentions focused on their friend flaying around in the water, that Margo caught her eye. Both were perfectly positioned to mimic Lily's act. Margo sent Hermione a wink and went charging toward her target and Hermione did the same. Just like James, they certainly weren't expecting it.

Hermione felt Sirius' knees give way as she pummeled him. Still straddling his back, they both hit the water with a splash that could more greatly be described as a wave. It didn't take long for them to come back above water and as she clung to him she unconsciously felt, not even aware of the feeling, that she couldn't be happier. She was having one of the most fun and carefree moments of her life. With her life at home, in her own time, happy moments were always tinted by loss or worry of what was coming next. They were marred by what she felt she could be doing to make things better but wasn't. There was always something to do, some battle that needed fighting or book that needed to be read. This was different. She had been told that there was nothing she could do here in 1976 because the future was already decided just by her presence there. There was nothing she could change.

But something was changing. As she laughed and played with Sirius in that giant pool, she felt like she was little girl again. Free of worry or care. The person she was before she had ever learned she was a witch or before she had ever heard the name of Harry Potter.

Something was indeed changing. She was changing.

It had taken quite a long time to get the students settled down in the Great Hall. Dumbledore himself had a blast and Hermione personally witnessed him summoning water to be dumped on Professor McGonagall's head.

And so because the headmaster was garnering just as much amusement from the prank as everyone else, the first classes of the day were cancelled and everyone was given time to go and dry themselves off with a simple charm. The Marauders had done an excellent job planning the prank. They had arranged for all the student's belongings to disappear from the Great Hall and reappear in the third floor corridor, ready to be picked up whenever the students fancied. All the house tables and benches and wound up outside on the grounds and were scheduled to reappear by lunchtime.

At the moment Hermione was waiting patiently outside of Professor McGonagall's office. Hermione happened to have a scheduled meeting with her head of house so McGonagall could see how Hermione was adjusting to her new home.

Just inside the door McGonagall was speaking with the troublemakers and dishing out punishments. Occasionally her voice would raise a few octaves when she lost her patience. This was understandable of course. The Marauders had a way of trying one's patience.

To better catch what was occurring inside, Hermione began pressing her ear to the door. Disappointingly, the door was rather thick and she could only hear a few tidbits.

"…only water, Professor…"

"ONLY WATER! IT WAS ENTIRE BLOODY MUGGLE AMUSEMENT PARK! THE ONLY THING MISSING WAS SLIDES!"

"Damn, slides would have been a good idea."

"That's beside the point, Mr. Black!"

Hermione chuckled. That would have been a great idea.

McGonagall lectured on the importance of discipline and responsibility for a few more minutes before finally dismissing them with orders to attend detention for the next two weeks. The door opened and she watched as each of them walked out in turn, not even fazed with their punishment. Their faces brightened even more when they saw her.

"Hermione!" each of them cried.

"Hey, boys."

"Watcha doing here?"

"Worried about us?" asked Sirius.

"Hardly," she responded. "I'm here to speak with Professor McGonagall."

"I imagine she'll be much happier to see you than she was to see us," said Remus.

James jumped in. "I don't know about you three but Minerva is always pleased to see me." His friends and Hermione just stared at him. "Alright, maybe just deep down," he conceited somewhat.

The boys left then after saying their parting greetings and Hermione let herself into McGonagall's office. McGonagall acknowledged her arrival and gestured for her to sit down.

"So, Miss Bennett, how are you enjoying your time here at Hogwarts?" asked McGonagall, still attempting to calm down.

"It's been very agreeable. My classes are wonderful and so are all the teachers."

"I'm glad to hear you say so. You are certainly excelling quite well in them. All your professors, including myself, are very impressed with you."

If there was one thing that could make Hermione feel better, this was it. Nothing could make her heart soar like flattery based on pure academic achievement. She was suddenly very glad that she had come to this meeting.

"Thank you so much, Professor. I try my best."

"Your best is far better than most of the students here, Miss Bennett. I took the liberty of asking the Headmaster for your past academic records and your OWL scores are excellent." McGonagall leaned forward at her desk and her demeanor became a little more solemn. "From past experience, I've seen many students throw themselves into their studies but ignore other aspects of their lives that are just as important. I trust that you are making friends? Have your fellow Gryffindors been welcoming?"

"Uh," she stammered. Hermione was touched by her head of house's concern. She reminded her of how she was in her own time. McGonagall had hardly changed. She may have become a little more stern over the years, but that was all.

"Everyone has been very welcoming, not to worry. I'm making friends."

McGonagall smiled.

Before long Hermione exited McGonagall's office, ready to return to the common room for a much needed nap. She closed her eyes, inhaling slowly and breathing in the familiar scent. She let everything slow down, all was quiet.

And then…

"Hermione!"

Sirius was leaning casually against the wall adjacent to the door to McGonagall's office. His hair, she noticed, had been left to dry naturally and was therefore much for curly than usual. He had disregarded his robes and was dressed simply in his white buttoned up shirt and black slacks. There was no other way to say it. He looked…_cool_.

"Merlin, Sirius! You scared the hell out of me," she breathed. "What are you still doing here?"

"I was waiting for you."

"You were waiting for me?"

"I was waiting for you," he repeated with a smirk.

"Why were you waiting for me?"

"I've been told you may be even more brilliant than myself, but you really are awfully slow sometimes." He approached Hermione, taking her bag off her shoulder and carrying it in his hand.

"You don't have to do that," she told him.

"I know."

She was pleasantly surprised that he had stayed behind to be with her, and yet it created just as much tension within herself that she didn't know what to do with. The last thing she wanted was to lead him on. In less than seven months, she would be back home and all that happened here would be a distant memory. Sirius was certainly sweet when he wanted to be, and it wouldn't be fair for him to get hurt.

They walked quietly for a time, neither saying anything at all. The silence was comfortable instead of being awkward or tense.

She glanced in his direction and as if he could predict her movements, he caught her gaze. Sirius brushed the hair out of his face and moved to wrap an arm around Hermione's waist but was interrupted by a voice Hermione found terribly familiar.

"Out of all the girls you've dated, Black, I think you've reached a new low," hollered Lucius Malfoy. From what Hermione had picked up, Malfoy Sr. was a seventh year with a flair for the dark arts and a nasty habit of hexing anyone who dared to look him in the eye.

"It's actually the other way around, Malloy. I've never been higher!" cried Sirius. As an afterthought he turned to a blushing Hermione and added, "And there haven't been that many girls." A few of the Malfoy's friends scoffed loudly.

She had been lucky enough to avoid the young Slytherin standing before her over the last few weeks. She had seen him around in classes and in the Great Hall during meal times but had been lucky enough to evade him and his friends beyond that. He was absolutely the last person she wanted to see. She wished she could say it was just discomfort that kept her from glancing in the direction of the Slytherin table, but it wasn't.

It was fear. Blinding unabashed fear.

Hermione was afraid that the moment she came into contact with him he would just know, and the feeling was only growing now that he was right there.

The hatred was so evident in his sneer, lip upturned and brows furrowed in disgust. And Hermione could only stand there, not sure what to say or do.

Because unlike in her own world, she wasn't allowed to say or do _anything_.

She prayed that Sirius wouldn't be stupid enough to do anything to provoke him further.

She diverted her attention for a moment from Malfoy to the other Slytherins who were accompanying him. It didn't take long to find the face she was looking for. The sixteen year old Severas Snape lacked the confidence she had come to know in the adult. He hung towards the back of the group, obviously more of a follower than a leader. Her contact with him had been somewhat limited since she had arrived. She had seen him potions class of course and in the Great Hall during meal times, but she had yet to speak a word to him. If she was being honest with herself, she didn't want to speak to him at all. The last thing she wanted was to have any awkward moments with the man on her return home. She was already looking forward to enough of those already.

Hermione always found a way to be brave for her friends. That was easy, as easy as breathing. But when it was just her. That was so much more difficult and required more strength than she often felt she possessed. The need to flee was growing ever greater as she felt Malfoy's cold eyes on her. Without thinking, she strode forward to the right quickly glancing at Sirius and telling him to, "Come on."

"Watch your step, mudblood."

She cringed, pausing momentarily, and tried to continue on her way until a firm hand suddenly gripped her arm.

"Hey!" yelled Sirius, his voice suddenly angry. "Don't speak to her that way," he said, striding up to face Malfoy.

Malfoy's grip tightened on her arm as she attempted to pull away.

"Milfoy. Malloy. Without all due disrespect, you need to let go of her arm." Sirius' voice sounded strong but furious.

"You're not exactly in a position to tell me what to do, Black."

"Actually, I'm in a rather fantastic position for a potentially embarrassing right hook." Sirius smirked. "Embarrassing for you I mean."

"That would be an unwise move."

"Well, I've never been particularly wise. Still scored higher on the last Defense Against the Dark Arts Exam though. I wonder why that is." Malfoy glared but made no move to deny the barely veiled accusation.

Sirius took a step closer. "Let go of her arm."

Another voice sounded from behind the throng of boys. "Move along, Sirius. Before you get hurt."

Hermione turned towards the other boy, slightly startled. His voice sounded remarkably like that of Sirius and as she took in his features, she realized how similar they were in appearance as well. The boy seemed to be a year or two younger than Sirius. He stepped past Snape whom he had been standing beside in the back to stand beside Lucius.

"I didn't think I was the one who needed to hear that advice, Regulas," responded Sirius whose tone had become much softer. The brothers shared a silent moment, holding eye contact until Regulas looked away, seemingly unable to hold it any longer. Sirius held his gaze in what appeared to be a silent plea.

Regulas turned his back and whispered something unintelligible in Lucius' ear. Lucius smirked and raised his wand, pointing it in Hermione's direction. Her breath stopped as her eyes fixed on the wand being raised and her fear kept her paralyzed. Her gaze was abruptly torn away as a sudden movement occurred in her peripheral vision. A loud thump sounded as Sirius' fist collided with Lucius' jaw. The grip on her arm loosened and she immediately pulled away to stand behind Sirius. Usually she wouldn't stand behind her allies in an effort to avoid danger, but she couldn't seem to help herself. Despite being in much more dangerous situations, she felt incredibly vulnerable.

Sirius swirled around smiling brightly, obviously pleased with himself. Rubbing his hand, he spoke to Hermione, "Damn, that hurt more than I thought it would. Look at that!" He showed her his red knuckles. "Kiss it better?" he asked.

But before he could grow too comfortable in his supposed victory, Hermione's eyes widened as she caught sight of Malfoy rising from the floor with an expression of anger clearly visible upon his face.

"Sirius! Look out!" Hermione yelled loudly.

"What do yo-", he started and then it hit him. Malfoy stunned Sirius and he never saw it coming.

It would be over three hours before Sirius would wake up in the hospital wing, with a very anxious Hermione sitting by his side. She leaned towards him, feeling the need for closer proximity. He smelled like…cinnamon. She had never really noticed before.

He stirred quietly, mumbling a little to himself. She took his hand in hers, and whispered his name. Sirius' eyes slowly opened, and he was obviously very confused upon awakening.

"You're in the hospital wing, Sirius."

"Mione?"

"Yes?" she responded quietly.

"The Beast got me."

"Malfoy got you."

"My point exactly."

He lay quietly for a moment, still very disoriented. She watched him closely, not because it was necessary. He was fine, the picture of health. She just couldn't take her eyes off him.

She wondered about him, the boy before her now and the man she had come to know. He hadn't changed in so many ways. He was just as childish at thirty-six as he was at sixteen. He was just as reckless and he was just as clever.

There was one difference. She could see it in his eyes. They had lost so much of their joy, the sparkle. The Sirius she knew was mischievous and brilliant and wild, but he was sad. He was a man who had lost just about everything. He had been holding on by a thread.

And the thread broke.

Lying before her was a kid with his whole life ahead of him. A boy with a family of friends. In just three years that would all go away. Knowing this, she felt strangely guilty, like she was the reason why.

"My knuckles hurt," Sirius complained, rubbing his hands.

"That's usually what happens when you punch someone in the face."

"Well, I had to defend your honor."

"That was very chivalrous of you," she said kindly, a bit amused. "But you didn't have to do that."

"Yes I did. He insulted you."

"A lot of people have insulted me. It's not a big deal. I've grown accustomed it."

"Being insulted because of your background isn't something you should get used to," said Sirius strongly.

Hermione paused, taking in his words, but continued. "There are worse things."

"There shouldn't be."

She stopped arguing with him. There was no need to pull him out of his safe and innocent world just yet.

Sirius continued. "At least I got to break Malfoy's nose. That's something I haven't done before. You should try it. It's oddly liberating to hit someone like that. "

Smirking devilishly, she responded, "I actually know exactly how it feels to punch a Malfoy in the face. You're right. It feels a lot better than a hex."

"You've really punched someone before? I'm impressed."

"Thanks."

"Look Hermione, I can't say I know what things are like abroad, but here you need to be careful."

"I didn't think I'd ever here you preach about the importance of being careful, Sirius." She looked about as skeptical as she could be. "But no need to worry, I'm nothing if not careful."

"I don't doubt it," he said. "And you should steer clear of those guys. They aren't cute and cuddly like me."

"Ha!" she scoffed loudly. "I'm sure."

Despite a chilly persona, she couldn't completely hide her smile and Sirius reveled in it. Maybe they weren't totally helpless after all.

He considered her a moment. "You know, sometimes I just don't get you."

She hastily looked away from him and down at her knees, almost afraid he would be able to discover something in her gaze.

"You're not really supposed to."

Madam Pomfrey chose that moment to appear. "Glad to see you're finally awake, Mr. Black." The nurse hustled over to the other side of his bed that Hermione wasn't occupying.

"Does that mean I can go?"

"I'm afraid not. You need to rest and I don't trust you on your own."

"Aw come on, Madam Pomfrey. I promise I won't overexert myself."

"Nice try, Mr. Black. But you are not going anywhere for at least a couple hours," she responded ruefully. "Be thankful I'm not making you stay overnight."

Hermione moved to get up from her chair. "I guess I should be going." Sirius felt a pang of disappointment that was much stronger than he was expecting. "You don't need to leave."

"No, I should go. You obviously need to rest and I have an Ancient Runes essay to finish."

"That's not due for another week."

She ignored this, seeming uncomfortable again. "I'll see you later, Sirius." She shot him one last hesitant smile before turning around and heading out of the hospital wing. He watched her go and his eyes lingered past the open large double doors long after she had turned the corner.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9: Chocolate**

**"Contrary to general belief, I do not believe that friends are necessarily the people you like best, they are merely the people who get there first."- ****Peter Ustinov**

Hermione slowly made her way back to Gryffindor Tower. She felt exhausted. The day had been long. After Sirius had been stunned, a very angry Professor McGonagall had appeared and issued the group of Slytherins a very harsh telling off along with a month's worth of detention for Malfoy. They left the scene as McGonagall had summoned a stretcher and personally floated him up to the hospital wing. Hermione had explained what had happened in full on the way and had stayed with Sirius until he had woken up which had taken a few hours. She was looking forward to finally having some peace and quiet since she knew her roommates would be out for at least a little while longer.

Making her way past the Fat Lady and into the common room, she pulled her books out of her bag and made herself comfortable on the empty couch. By the time 10 p.m. rolled around, she had finished her Ancient Runes essay and was staring blankly at the fire. She was beginning to doze off when she was snapped awake by someone entering through the portrait.

Remus appeared then, with what appeared to be a large assortment of Honeydukes chocolate tucked under both arms.

"Hello, Remus." The boy looked in Hermione's direction like a deer caught in headlights and promptly dropped all his chocolate onto the floor. Hermione smiled softly.

"Good evening, Hermione. Wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Well it is the Gryffindor common room," she said smugly. He chuckled nervously. "Right you are."

"Stocking up on sweets, are you?" she asked with a knowing smile.

"Yes." Hermione got up from her place on the couch to help him pick up his contraband. "Can I ask how you were able to get so much of this on a day we aren't allowed to go to Hogsmeade?" she asked innocently. She already knew of course, but she kind of enjoyed watching him squirm.

"Uh," he stammered. "Um, I have a secret stash in the castle. Just transferring some for easy access," he answered uneasily.

"Uh huh." Hermione made sure everything was safely back in Remus' arms before heading back to the couch to put her stuff away. "Well, I should head to bed. I'm pretty tired." Throwing her bag over her shoulder, she patted her friend on the back and started for the staircase.

"Uh Hermione?" She turned around to look at Remus.

"Mind not mentioning this to anyone?" he asked nervously.

Hermione laughed softly. "Of course, Remus."

Hermione retreated up the stairs just as the portrait opened for the second time. Sirius shuffled in looking slightly disheveled. "Moony! You have more chocolate. Excellent!"

"It's not for you, Sirius," said Remus holding it all closer to his chest.

"Oh come on, I'm an invalid! I need it!"

"Sirius, when are you not an invalid? I'm pretty confident you have permanent brain damage."

"I am offended, Moony," Sirius responded nonchalantly. "Any brain damage is only temporary." Sirius took a moment to make a grab for one of his chocolate bars and succeeded.

"You know, I'm pretty sure Hermione didn't buy my lie that I didn't just sneak into Hogsmeade," said Remus thoughtfully.

"Well she's a smart girl. And you're a horrible liar. That makes sense."

"Yes. It does. Of course, it does. It was just something in her expression, like she expected me to lie."

"Remus. You're a prefect smuggling sweets onto campus when you're not allowed. It would surprise me if she expected you _not_ to lie."

"I suppose."

"Name the three main ingredients in a befuddlement draught."

"Sneezewort, scurvey-grass, and lovage," Lily responded to Hermione's question. The pair was studying in the library, attempting to be productive with their free time. Hermione found herself pleased that she finally had a friend as motivated as she. It made things so much easier only having to worry about her own assignments. It had been a few weeks since the incident with the Slytherins and everything had seemed to calm down. Malfoy didn't seem to be seeking revenge just yet and Hermione felt more comfortable. She fell into an easy groove with her roommates, spending a great deal of time studying for their classes. It was a nice distraction.

The girls switched turns asking the other questions for Potions class. "In what potion is pomegranate juice most predominantly used?"

"A Strengthening Solution," she answered. Lily nodded. "Correct."

"In a Draught of Peace, which-"

"Evans!" he screamed at general surprise of everyone in the library. "I mean Lily! Lily Evans!"

Hermione and the Lily Evans in question were suddenly broken out of their reverie by his outburst.

_Here we go again, _thought a rather bemused Hermione. James had been following Lily around Hogwarts like a lap dog for the past few weeks with no signs of relenting. He seemed to be relinquishing his pride little by little with each ridiculous attempt to win her over. The most memorable moment to date had been the muggle megaphone in the Great Hall used to announce to the entire student body that Lily was a 'sexy beast.'

To the outside eye, Lily would have appeared livid but Hermione swore she saw her new friend crack a smile… if only for a second.

It took a moment for each of them to process what they were seeing this time around. It appeared as if James had stolen one of the suits of armor and had dressed himself up because James Potter was not visible beneath the shiny metal exterior. He was indeed covered head to toe like he was a knight dressed for battle. The only things missing were a sword and shield.

"Lily Evans." His voice was a little muffled. The silver medieval helmet didn't help. "I bring thee chocolate. Because chocolate is sweet," he started. "…and you're sweet." He slowly walked over to their table, walking with a bit of a wobble and a great deal of squeaking due to the armor.

_Wow. _

Hermione had already become amazed at the length at which James was prepared to go to win Lily over. The fact that he had to win her over was a surprise in and of itself. She had always been under the impression that they had always been friends, considering they were both in Gryffindor. That was clearly not the case. James could definitely be an ass at times but he adored Lily. The problem was convincing Lily that was true and that James wasn't just in love with getting what he wanted as she supposed.

He _was_ trying awfully hard. Hermione glanced in Lily's direction. She was remarkably stoic despite the costume. Hermione wondered just how long she could keep up this cold exterior before falling for James.

Lily looked at James hard. "Um…Thank you," she eventually replied. "James, I…look, I want to apol-," she started but was quickly interrupted by the sound of yelling drifting down the hall outside the library getting louder and louder.

Everyone in the library looked up in alarm as Remus Lupin came skirting into the library with a look that would make even the Grim Reaper run in the opposite direction, and he had eyes only for James.

"You honestly broke into my trunk and stole my secret stash of chocolate?"

"No, I didn't."

"Yes you did!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"James!" yelled Remus, his voice rising.

"Ok, look. You've been gaining a little pudge around the middle and I really did it for your best interest," he shrugged nonchalantly. Remus looked livid.

He breathed in slowly. "Alright, Mooney. Just breathe. In and out. Slowly and steady. You don't want to kill him. Just maim him a little." He closed his eyes as if in deep concentration.

In the mean time, James turned back around in his ridiculous suit of armor with a very loud squeak to face Lily and Hermione, the former looking much more annoyed. "So, where were we?"

"You were about to give me chocolate that you stole from your friend?" Lily inquired.

"Well, he really didn't need it."

And at that, Remus lost what was left of his self composure and rushed at James like a bull. Despite the extra protection, James went down like a weight and Remus followed, toppling him to the ground. The collective noise they made was extraordinary.

Both Lily and Hermione gasped as they hit the hard stone ground, only sitting about a foot from where they continued to wrestle around on the floor.

"What in the blazes is going on in here?"

Madam Pince had left the library with all its students quietly studying to run a quick errand and returned to find everyone fixated on the commotion now taking place.

James and Remus stopped dead, looking up to see the intimidating librarian glaring down at them looking frighteningly livid.

"The both of you will disentangle yourselves, stand up, and escort yourselves out of this library. Do I make myself clear? And at six p.m. tomorrow, you will each report to back here for detention."

The two marauders began to get up off the ground, James taking a little longer due to his suit. Remus waited till he was standing up straight before he knocked him upside the head one more time. As much as he loved his friends, they sure as hell could annoy him. James placed the box of chocolate on the table next to Lily, despite the glares of Remus. Lifting the part of the armor that shielded his face, he stared at Lily and she didn't turn away. His expression was hopeful while she looked cautious.

After a brief moment that seemed longer than it actually was, Lily lowered her gaze and focused her attention back to the text book she had sprawled out in front of her. James laid one hand softly on hers on the table smiling gently. She stiffened, not sure what to make of the gesture.

And then without saying another word, he left the library with Remus, creating loud scraping sounds as he awkwardly walked out with all the bravado he could muster.

"Look, Lily, I know it isn't really my place but maybe you should consider going a little easier on James."

Lily and Hermione had finished their study session and were now exiting the library about to part ways for awhile so Lily could attend to her prefect duties. After the boys had left, they had quickly returned to their books, Lily neglecting to say a word about the outrageous scene they had started and Hermione too nervous to bring it up herself. She had been told not to interfere here. It wasn't her place to meddle in these people's lives, especially since it had technically already happened. At least it had for Hermione. However, minding her own business had never been one of her strong suits as Harry and Ron never failed to point out. She never seemed quite able to keep her mouth shut, especially when she was confused.

She chanced a glance in Lily's direction.

Lily's expression was stony again. "He doesn't need anyone to go easy on him. He has enough people fawning over him as it is."

"I don't know. He seems pretty fond of you," Hermione responded softly.

"Potter isn't fond of me. He just likes a challenge."

"Are you sure about that?"

Lily paused mid-step, her face becoming a little more thoughtful. She looked towards Hermione with all the confidence she seemed to be able to muster and responded with assurance.

"Yes."

"If you're sure. But if it were me, I'd give him a shot," she smiled genuinely looking Lily in the eyes.

"Just like you're giving Sirius a shot?"

Hermione paused momentarily. "That's different." She hoped Lily didn't notice how much her voice quivered.

"Sure it is," Lily responded with a hint of sarcasm. "Look, Hermione. I've known James for quite awhile and he is the same egotistical prat he was when he was eleven. Sure, there's no one better at executing practical jokes. And yes, somehow he's oddly intelligent without even having to try that hard. But he's also an ass. And I don't blame you for not wanting to go out with Sirius. The both of them are exactly the same. They might as well marry each other."

Hermione realized she was fighting a losing battle and decided hastily to let it go for now. "I get it."

Lily's expression softened. "Thanks." Hermione had a feeling this wasn't the first time she had to defend her dislike for James. She briefly wondered what the catalyst would be that would eventually change her mind.

"Hey, I have to go but I'll see you later in the common room, alright?"

"Sure. See you there." Lily quickly scurried off down the corridor leading to McGonagall's office while Hermione began heading back in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. It would be nice to curl up in bed and just sleep while everyone was gone. She barely had anytime to herself over the last few weeks. While she appreciated Lily and Margo's constant attempts to include her in literally everything they did, it was getting a little tiresome. And when they weren't constantly by her side, one of the Marauders would suddenly appear out of nowhere for whatever reason. A few days ago, Hermione had received a bizarre note from a rather haughty looking owl.

_New girl. You are fluffy and amusing. We have decided to keep you. _

Ever since she could rarely get rid of them for long, much to the dismay of a certain red haired suitemate. They appeared by her side while walking to class, in the common room, or whenever she was eating in the Great Hall. From what she could tell, they all had various reasons for wanting to keep her company. James kept up a long never ending list of questions about Lily that she rarely knew how to answer considering she barely knew the girl, while Sirius had a never ending list of questions just for her…which she also didn't even begin to know how to address. Anytime he appeared, she couldn't help but get a little agitated. It was hard enough keeping things straight without a constant barrage of inquiries about her parents, school, France. She had a difficult enough time with those considering she had only been to France once and then when the questions strayed to past boyfriends…well then it just got awkward. Because there was no way she opening up about that to her best friend's godfather.

Thankfully Remus acted reasonably enough under most circumstances, often keeping his friends in check. She had come to find his presence to be the most peaceful. Maybe it was because of his demeanor, the way he often gave her some much needed space. Or it could simply be, she thought once, that he wasn't dead.

She was even more grateful that the only times she ever had to see Peter was while in a group. He only seemed vaguely curious in her sudden presence and his shyness kept him from speaking directly to her most of the time. However, no matter how much he kept his distance it never did undo the knots that would always form in her stomach at the mention of his name or at the sound of his voice, so horribly familiar and a terrible reminder of memories she had no desire to replay in her head.

The memories snuck up on her when she least expected them. She often suspected her new friends of catching on to those moments when she simply just wasn't _present_. If they did notice how spacey she had become they certainly hadn't said anything. In certain respects she was grateful to for that, yet she couldn't help but miss the intimacy that came with old friendships where the telling of secrets was simply second nature. She missed Harry and Ron. She missed the closeness that she had taken for granted. To be perfectly honest, Hermione wasn't entirely sure she could get through another seven months without breaking.

Hey everyone! So I am finally getting off my ass and getting back into this story. Sooo sorry for the delay! I realized while I was rereading the last few chapters that there were serious errors. I literally wrote a scene twice in two different chapters and forgot. Major fail. Teaches me not to ignore a story for months and months and then to start writing again cold turkey. But here is Chapter 9 revised and I hope you enjoy it. I revised Chapter 8 as well so definitely check that out. I'm literally writing Chapter 10 as we speak so hopefully I should get that posted a hell of a lot sooner than I have been updating lately. Thank you all so much for the patience and the support! You guys are awesome


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